Firefly
by penwithnopaper
Summary: Since my first story worked out well enough I thought I would start a second story. Try to be nice. I've heard that there are trolls out there who's only reason of existence is to condemn and to destroy. Not sure how they live with themselves. God will weed them out in the end. Just that they will learn too late. Complete
1. Chapter 1

**Firefly**

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_Fireflies give off a little light once in a while. What our two heroes could use about now is a lot more than a little light from a firefly. However maybe one little light is all they really need. One soft little glow that says their lives will get better._

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_Chapter one_

Rick had been on this planet for the last two days. His ship, like several others, was in an almost underground area and round in shape. Around it was the ability to refuel, do minor maintenance, connect and dump the waste tanks while filling the potable water tanks. Rick had dumped and filled his tanks first thing. His ship didn't use fuel which was mostly meant for smaller ships that never actually left the system unlike what he did routinely. Once those tanks were accounted for he went out to purchase food and fill his kitchen. However, he was so low on food he had to have it delivered which might be today or tomorrow.

It was just his luck as he sat around doing mostly nothing to find out that it was going to be tomorrow. Still they had shown up nice and early so he could still leave today as planned and go get a load of cargo and transport it.

Thanks to getting his kitchen filled early he could go shopping for other things. First on his list were spare parts. It took him two trips because after buying what was on his mind and taking them back to his ship, he stowed them only to find that he'd forgotten something. So cursing at himself for his memory he went back to get what he had missed the first time.

Having taken care of that he could only think of one thing left to get. The place had a casino but he considered those places for suckers. Most of them were unregulated which meant chances of winning were terrible. You had a better chance of losing control of your ship, plunging it into the system's sun, coming out the other side, and finding a guy on the other side offering up a victory cigar.

He skipped that one and went into a clothing store to see if there was something else his apparently bad memory had forgotten. Though as he walked what he did see was an outright and obvious theft attempt. It was just a kid and Rick could only shake his head. He had already observed that this idiot kid had been spotted and was being followed. Until he actually tried to leave the store he was just collecting items. It still wasn't a theft until he tried to leave with them.

Depending on just what that stupid kid did it might mean jail or his life. Being this far out from the core planets meant things were handled differently.

In his world there were six core planets that were patrolled by the Alliance. The Alliance had large military ships that were mostly state of the art. Most of them patrolled the core planets. Those ships took prisoners. They wanted to show that you could be captured and forced to live out your life on a prison moon.

A prison moon was pretty much what it sounded like. It was a moon orbiting a gas giant in one of the six systems. The moon itself was heavily protected. Any ship trying to get in that wasn't an Alliance war ship was challenged. Most of those would turn out to be supply ships.

All the others were attacked and boarded. The result of being that stupid was you ended up on said prison planet without a trial. The moon itself had nothing on it. Only what the prisoners built for themselves.

They hunted for food, and that included cannibalism, as well as hunted for local wildlife. You also would try and plant crops. The moon itself had broken up over time into different factions. There were workers, slaves captured from other factions, and warriors.

Other factions would raid the farms to gain food and that faction fought back. The entire planet was unregulated and the Alliance made sure everyone knew that. Being sent to the moon was a life sentence. The chances of dying of old age were none unless you were already really old when you arrived and even then the chances were still none.

Each faction needed young men to do most of the fighting while everyone else worked at one thing or another.

Plus if you thought the moon was for men only, guess again. Even though the moon was populated mostly by men, there were women on the moon. Most of those became property of the men who were in charge of which ever faction you were leader of.

Even then all the women were effectively sex slaves. A leader would rape her himself or loan her out to other members of his faction in order to gain something with said something being anything he thought would benefit him.

However, there was one thing the Alliance made sure you understood completely. If you were sent to the moon, you went there sterile. Both men and women got snipped. There weren't going to be any children on this moon. Ever!

Rick left this stupid kid and kept looking around. It wasn't until he saw the socks area that it occurred to him he needed socks so he picked out six pairs and went up front to pay for them.

Once out of the shop he stuffed them into a pocket in his coat and kept walking. There was basically one last thing to get. He didn't really need it. It was an indulgence. The question was just what was he going to get and that would be based on the cost.

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Kate was walking home, carrying what her master/owner had purchased. As normal she was out front which allowed him to walk behind her and watch her ass as she walked. She already knew that if she didn't put enough swing in her hips and act like a slut he would beat her.

She was his property. Kate knew the Alliance didn't like slavery and would force a person to give up his slave(s) if he had any. Though out this far the Alliance always looked the other way.

She and her parents had lived out here all their lives. They had never had much of anything. Just getting food and sometimes even water was difficult and took hard work. You could hunt the local wildlife if you could find any without needing anyone's permission. The problem with that was most of the wildlife had been hunted to near extinction. Then they had hit a bad patch. A really bad patch.

Kate had watched her mother sobbing as she was being taken away. They had sold her to gain something. She didn't even know what it was or how much of it they had gotten for her. Now she was a slave.

Her master, she'd quickly learned, was mean. If she didn't say the word, "Master," she was beaten. If she broke something, she was beaten. If the place wasn't so sparkling clean that you could eat off of it, she was beaten.

Most times of late it was just a slap. In either case it all hurt. She had just the one item to wear and she was barefoot. He didn't buy her anything save for tampons. He had learned his lesson about not providing them and ended up with blood on his floor. While it was his fault, he blamed her. She got to clean up the mess as she had learned to expect but she did find a box of tampons for her to use the next day.

She had also learned that what she ate was what he didn't eat. Even if she didn't like the taste she ate it. She even licked it clean to get every last bit. And the only thing she was allowed to drink was water. That in itself wasn't a problem; all she'd ever had to drink was water, sometimes of questionable quality. At least this was mostly clean. She even drank the water he didn't drink.

As a result she was thin. Granted she had always been thin for as long as she could remember. She could always feel her own ribs and that hadn't changed any since being sold.

Kate was trying to watch where she was going. If she dropped it whatever it was would shatter into a million places and if that happened she knew she would be beaten, probably heavily, once they were home.

Kate was up against the wall so that she really only had to worry about just one side of her. Even then she had been forced to twist her body to protect it more than once.

The latest had her twisting away from some kid who was running the opposite direction. She took a moment to turn to stare at him for being so stupid and trying to get her into trouble. It also allowed her a moment to see her owner staring at her ass as usual.

Turning around since she was still walking she had just enough time to see him, but not much of anything else. He slammed into her hard and just kept on running. However, she lost hold of it, crashed into the wall, then fell to the floor with a million of pieces of what she had been carrying spread out all around her.

"**STUPID BITCH!**"Her owner only really saw that she had dropped it and fallen to the floor. He'd never really seen the kid that had run past them let alone the person that was right behind him. All he knew or cared about was that she had screwed up.

Kate felt his hand of steel lift her up off the floor and the next thing she felt was his fist striking the side of her face which sent her back down to the floor.

She was whispering on the floor from the pain. "I'm sorry, they hit me." It wasn't her fault. She had been doing her very best to get it home in one piece.

"STUPID BITCH! OF COURSE IT'S YOUR FAULT! …You're not worth the money I paid for you," he yelled. But instead of hitting her again, kicking her, or even lifting her up and making sure she went home so he could beat her even harder, he stomped away. He left her lying on the floor up against the wall whimpering from the pain he had already inflicted and the pain she was sure to come.

Kate actually picked up some of the broken pieces and wondered for a split second if she could figure out a way to put it back together. But she knew it was hopeless. The pieces were sharp, there were so many of them, and people were even stepping on some of them, crushing them into either smaller pieces or into dust. A few even got kicked and went flying down the hallway.

She was dead. For a moment she wondered if that wouldn't be a better end than what was coming her way.

Then suddenly there was a man standing there. His boots had crushed a few more pieces. That sound had Kate looking up at him. The tattoos she had on the top of both of her hands clearly showed that she was a slave. Though that was all they did.

He was wearing what to her looked like a real leather coat that almost reached the floor. His boots were big, heavy-looking, and black in color. He was wearing black gloves and beige pants that he was actually holding up using suspenders. His shirt was a dark burgundy. It didn't look like he had shaved for a couple of days.

Kate preferred men who were close shaved but it looked good on him. He was actually good-looking.

Then she watched him take something out from the inside of his coat and wave it across her. It just kinda beeped softly at her but did nothing else. Then he put it away. "Get up," he told her and grabbed her arm and lifted her up. "This way." He walked her away from where she lived. Kate knew if she didn't show up at home soon he would beat her even harder.

Except she was a slave so she didn't fight him. They didn't go far when Kate found herself being taken into a bar and up to the bartender. "One bottle of single malt scotch and one bottle of Chardonnay." Then he turned to her and looked at her from barefoot to head. He changed his order. "Better make that two bottles of Chardonnay."

Kate saw the bartender set three bottles on the bar and watched as the man paid for them then picked them up one by one and made them disappear into his coat.

"Let's go." He took hold of her arm and began walking fast causing her to stumble for a moment to keep up.

Kate needed to complain but she was a slave and didn't have a voice in this. She counted herself lucky that she had gotten to keep the name her mother had given her instead of something else.

They kept walking and he had a tight grip on her arm. Then suddenly she walked into an area that was open to the sky above after going through an airlock. Once in there she saw a ship. She hadn't seen too many but it looked like a ship to her.

He took her up a ramp and over to the side of the ship. This part looked flimsy and weak. Then he pressed a panel, the door opened, and he took her inside. She watched as that door closed. He input a code on the wall next to the next door and it opened.

He dragged her inside and closed the door behind him. Kate saw a large open space. They were effectively right in the middle. There were things to her right and her left. To her right looked like bunk beds. Beyond that she didn't know. To her left were two places that she had no idea about.

He finally let go of her and she watched as he hung up his coat and walked to his left. "This way."

Kate knew she shouldn't but she was also used to doing what she was told so she followed him. She watched him go around a hole in the floor and one just like it in the ceiling. There were two ways in while the other two sides had railings.

In front she saw three chairs and nothing but glass. He sat down in the middle one that was the farthest forward. The other two metal chairs were on either side and just slightly behind that one.

"Sit down." He patted the chair to his right. Kate stepped up and watched as these screens that were a little small came to life on each side. She looked at the chair he wanted her to sit in and they had screens just like it on both sides. So did the other chair.

He pulled straps over his shoulders one at a time. "Sit down, please," he told her only this time instead of ordering her like she was used to he had said please. No one said please to her, not ever. She sat down and just then she heard noise that she wasn't used to. "Better buckle up." Kate assumed he meant those straps and twisted to find hers. Then she found this round thing to snap them into.

Just as she did they start going straight up as the noise got louder. Soon they were outside and all she saw was the desert that they lived under and lots of sunlight until suddenly the glass got darker.

She also saw he had this tiny thing on his head. That had her looking around and found one just like it. She picked it up and studied his to see how it went on. She had it over her head; there were these things that went over her ears and a short piece that ended before it reached her mouth.

However, now she could hear him talking to someone and he was being talked to in return. Mostly what she got out of it was the word _orbit_.

Her eyes opened wide. Orbit meant space. He was taking them out into space! She had never in her life been out in space; she wasn't even sure what was out here. Then something about clearance for FTL. The planet disappeared from view and all she saw in front of her was blackness.

As she watched this tunnel formed and they surged into it. "Course set for Denab IV," he said to someone and then everything was silent. It allowed Kate to look at the screens on her chair. There were four of them and each one looked like it showed something different. So she concentrated on one of them. She thought she saw what she took to be a course that they were following.

Another was filled with numbers and colored bars. The next showed what she thought was the planet they had just left behind but there were red dots in various areas. The fourth one she really didn't begin to understand.

Still he was silent so she stayed just as silent and watched. Eventually she watched all of the red dots end up behind them then finally disappear. "Changing course for Telnab station." Kate watched as suddenly the line going somewhere changed to going somewhere else.

"Why?" Kate asked and then clapped a hand over her mouth. She was a slave and didn't have a voice. She didn't have the right to ask questions.

"Rule number one, never tell anyone where you really want to go. Not if you want to avoid trouble." He had actually answered her question and hadn't yelled at her.

"Auto pilot set." He took the thing off his head and hung it up. He followed that with removing all the straps that held him in place and stood up.

"Come on, I'll give you the tour." He actually just stood there and waited for her. Kate hung up head thing where she had found it, finally figured out how to make the straps let go, and stood up. As she did she finally noticed that a lot of the noise was gone.

He stopped at the hole in the floor and ceiling. "One twin B5 rail gun up and another down. They can be fired by computer, which really isn't the best idea but if you have to you have to. They can be fired from the chair using the targeting system which is better or you can climb up or down to man them personally. Usually the best idea.

"Living room and living room." He pointed to either side. "Above this sofa is the video system for movies or watching any local programming if there is any. Movies are all stored in the computer." He kept moving.

"Kitchen on the left and medical on the right," he mentioned. To Kate the kitchen was just this round table with bench seating on maybe three sides and a pole in the middle of the table from floor to ceiling.

Medical didn't look like anything to her. Maybe a few storage bays but that was all. However, he kept walking so she hurried to catch up.

"Cargo bay. Depending on size it comes in through the lone airlock or the floor on either side goes down and you load and lift it back up." He continued walking.

"Sleeping. This is my bunk." He tapped the lower one on the left side. "You can pick one of the others which ever one you like."

A BED!? She slept on a mat on the floor with maybe a pillow if she remembered to snag one from the sofa. He was offering her a real bed. Kate was still stuck on bed until she noticed he was still walking.

"Bathroom with shower on the left and work bench that I use so try not to move anything on it or I'll wonder where it went. Through the door is engineering but you don't have a reason to go back there." Then he moved back to the bed. "Each bed has storage under it even the upper ones." Kate watched as he demonstrated. He pulled out a drawer then watched as it tilted down to show all of the space. "Each bed also has a cabinet to hang clothes in. I've used up both on either end at the moment so you can have one of the other two on the other side."

Not that she had any clothes to hang up or anything to put into the drawer.

Then there was her primary problem. She was a slave and she was on someone else's ship and she was out in space. A simple beating was something she wasn't going to get this time. Her master was going to break something, maybe a lot of somethings. That was if he didn't outright kill her for this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Firefly**

_Chapter 2_

"Follow me, please." He began walking and yet Kate didn't move an inch. He had used the word again. Please. No one used that word when talking to her. She didn't understand him.

"Over here." He waved her over then pulled something down from the wall that was the size of a bed. When he did it the wall behind him lit up. Kate walked up to him since she was curious.

"This is medical," he said in case she'd forgotten, which she hadn't. There really wasn't all that much to this place. "Hop up and lie down for me. Let's get a look at you." She didn't move. "Please, it won't hurt, I promise." Except he didn't wait for her. He picked her up and sat her down on the bed. "Lie down." This time he didn't say please so she did as she was told and lay down on her back.

"First things first. Let's verify if you're tagged." Kate watched as he reached across her, pressed some panels, then he pulled something down out of the wall above her. She watched him detach something and slowly ran it down her body from head to toe then back again. "Your owner's a fool. He didn't tag you. You're a slave, aren't you?"

"Yes, my parents sold me to him." Kate answered him without looking at him.

"Thought as much. My name is Richard Castle. You can call me Rick. Not master or some other demeaning name. What's yours?"

"Kate." It was all he needed to know.

"Well, Kate, let's find out what kind of shape you're in." Rick reached across her and pressed another series of panels.

Rick slowly drew the device across her again only much more slowly. "Let's see, no skull fractures and I see no brain damage. Your cute nose is still in perfect shape." That had Kate smiling.

"I take it you find it painful to eat on one side of your mouth," Rick mentioned after he saw what was on the scanner.

"Yes." Kate lifted her hand to touch that side of her mouth.

"Don't move, please." Rick pushed her arm back down.

"Sorry." Kate noticed that he used that word again.

"Rule number two, never say that you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness and where we're going weakness is something you dare not show."

"Sorry," Kate told him again then realized she'd said sorry. "Sorry." It came out so easily that she couldn't help herself. She was all set to say sorry again but chose to just lie there quietly instead.

"Good girl." Rick was happy. "Looks like your jaw's been broken once. It's healed but not properly. We'll have to fix both of those." Rick kept pulling it down her body.

"Neck looks good. That's good. Lungs look good. Oh, my. You've had four broken ribs on your left side and two on your right. None of them have healed properly. We'll have to fix that as well." Rick kept going.

"The kidney on your left side shows signs of bruising. We can fix that easily. Let's see what else there is." Rick kept pulling.

"Pelvis is good as is your spinal column. …Looks like you've been raped a few times. In both. Your old master, I presume?" She didn't say anything. She didn't have to. It was staring him right in the face.

"Before we start, why were you lying on the floor?" Rick asked her.

"I failed. I dropped it and it broke so my master hit me and stormed off," Kate said.

"Did he now? More likely you got run over and had it ripped from your hands. It broke then the fool hit you for it." Rick saw the look that came over her face. "I know that place well. It's a bit chaotic in the best of times. But have it your way. You dropped it. …Now let's start with that tooth before you lose any more weight." Rick opened a panel over her head on the wall and pulled something out.

"This is going to hurt for a bit but it will pass. Now open your mouth wide for me." Rick waited until she'd done what he asked of her then pressed the needle into her mouth. He heard her grunt from the pain.

"Sorry," Rick apologized since he really didn't want to hurt her. "Great, now you've got me doing it." He had violated his own rule. Kate smiled timidly. He was handsome, being kind to her, and he was funny.

"Just for that I'm going to hope the pain shot I just gave you doesn't work. Now open wide so I can fix that tooth." Rick waited until she opened her mouth, pressed his device into the back of her mouth, and pressed it onto her tooth.

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"All done. Now we need to get to work on that jaw of yours." Rick put his device away and took out another one.

"This isn't supposed to hurt but it is going to feel weird so try and hold still or we'll have to do this all over again," Rick warned her.

Kate found that he wasn't lying. It felt like it should hurt but it didn't and yes, it felt really weird. Until he finally took it away.

"There, done with your jaw. Doing your ribs is going to take more time. It's going to feel the same, just takes longer so don't move." Rick put it on her chest and held it there for a moment.

"While that works I'm going to take some blood and see if he's done anything to you." Rick got out a fresh syringe.

"Don't like needles, I see." Rick saw her open her eyes wide as he got it out. "I'll be as kind as I can." Yet Kate moved when he got the needle a little too close.

"Stop moving or we'll have to fix your ribs all over again," Rick chided her.

"Sorry." Kate cringed because she'd done it again. She was so used to saying sorry.

Kate watched him take an amazingly small amount then transferred her blood into a tiny tube that he put into the wall. "Interesting," Rick noted as he read the display.

"Looks perfect to me." Rick opened another storage cabinet and removed a large beaker filled with a blue liquid that actually sparkled inside the blue. However, he needed a new syringe and something to bind her upper arm.

Rick bound her arm and tapped her arm just at the wrist until he saw a vein. He ripped something open, wiped her arm, then filled the syringe with a lot of the blue stuff until it couldn't hold any more.

"Try not to move or this really will hurt you and that's something I don't want to do." Rick inserted the syringe and pushed the plunger to get the liquid to go into her vein. He was done shortly and pulled out the syringe. "All done for now." He knew it was going to take more than one but was sure he could get her to take them.

Then the device on her chest beeped. "All done with your ribs." Rick put the device that was on her chest away. "Your immune system should fix everything else."

Rick threw away his second used syringe and helped her to stand. "How do you feel?" He watched as she ran her tongue through her mouth, tested her bad tooth, and found that it didn't hurt any longer. Then ran a hand along her jaw to test that.

"Better, I think." However, she was feeling something and wasn't sure just what it was.

"Hungry, perhaps?" Rick then closed the bed back into the wall which turned everything off.

"This way." Rick took her across a few short steps to the kitchen.

"In each cabinet in the wall is a meal. You simply open it." He pressed on the panel then let it pop open. Inside were a number of silver packets. He chose one out at random since that was how they went in then closed the panel.

"Here, this good for you?" It had what was inside it written on the outside.

Kate could read but what it said didn't mean anything to her. "You open this panel and put it inside. Close it and press the panel next to it and wait. In the meantime how about a drink? The glasses are behind this panel." Rick reached past her head, opened a panel in the same way, took out a glass, and closed it.

"Now comes the hard part, choosing what to drink." Rick reached up and pushed the ceiling up just a little then this round thing came down the column to about head height.

Above that panel she saw containers that had writing on each of them. "These are concentrated so you only need a little. Pick one." Rick waited for her to make her choice.

Kate didn't even know what any of them were. All she'd ever had to drink was water. The words on them meant almost nothing so she simply pointed. He put a drop in her glass then pushed it back up into the ceiling. He put the glass on the table, pressed a button, and out came water.

Kate smiled in relief since water looked like it was easy to get. He stopped when it reached the top and set it in front of her. The wall dinged so he opened it and took out her packet.

Then he pulled a drawer open, took out a fork, and handed it to her. "Just rip the top open and Bon Appétit. I'm going to go take a shower so take your time." Rick headed to the back of the ship.

"Shower?" She didn't understand why but the thought of him being naked excited her in ways she couldn't explain. She was used to being raped, not wanting a man. She didn't get any pleasure out of it and yet somehow she thought she might with him.

Instead she looked at her pouch, saw where to rip it open, and did so. The smell instantly hit her and her stomach growled as its emptiness actually hurt. One forkful later and she was moaning at the taste. She didn't know what it was but she loved it. She tried to get the contents of the pouch into her stomach as fast as she could.

Kate even found a way to rip it open and was licking the inside of the empty bag, savoring every taste. It was only after she was done that she realized that she was thirsty. Eating it had made her thirsty so she raised her glass and taste tested it. Her eyes opened wide at the taste; she drank an entire mouthful and felt it work its way down her throat. The taste was simply amazing. She found herself drinking it as fast as she could get it down until her glass was empty.

She sat at the table looking at her empty inside out packet and her now empty glass and she was smiling. Then suddenly a burst of something came out her mouth that sounded terrible, yet she felt better after doing it.

However, now her mind was on Rick being naked in the shower. She walked to the back where he'd said the shower was located. She pressed a hand on the door.

She had suffered through being raped and had hated every second of it. Partly because it hurt and partly because her master was disgusting. And yet she felt a need to be next to _him_. To touch him and feel him. Her master had kissed her but they were always rough and he had even choked her a few times when he did.

Kate wanted to smother his mouth with hers. Then the door slid open and she saw him standing there dressed in something different.

"Wow, done eating already? You must have been really hungry. Good thing I just bought a lot. Your turn in the shower. I'm going to search for something you can wear. Then I'm going to throw what you're wearing out the airlock."

Kate didn't move. She could smell him and he smelled so very fresh and enticing. She couldn't see any skin but she really wanted to. She wanted to run her hands across his fresh smelling body.

"In you go. Take a shower and get clean. I don't want to be smelling your old master on you so scrub really hard." Rick gently pushed her into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

He wondered just what he could give her to wear that might even come close to fitting her. He found a t-shirt that was likely way too big for her but maybe she could tie it at her waist. Then a pair of his boxers that actually had a string that she could use to pull them tight at her waist followed by a pair of tube socks. They were old and just about had holes in them but they would do for now. He put all of it on the lower bed across from him then went to the bridge and sat down to see how they were progressing.

He was pretty sure that one shot was working but he knew he needed to wait for at least two more shots. By then she would be going out of her mind. Especially after what he had planned for her.

Finding her had been a stroke of luck. He hadn't gone there looking for anyone. It was purely accidental. It was just his luck that she was pretty though skinny and he was betting her breasts could use a little fat, but he could fix that by feeding her.

"So where are we?" Rick activated all of his screens and took a look.

Kate meanwhile slowly took off what she was wearing and let it fall to the floor. It took her a moment to figure out the controls but she got the water to start. Then she found the control knob that changed the temperature that actually showed what it was on a readout. She guessed this was where Rick left it so she didn't change it but checked it before stepping in.

She found the shampoo and something to wash with and was soon scrubbing herself. Then her fingers finally found her core and a mere touch had her sucking in a breath. It also had her using her fingers to stroke herself. She'd never done this before but it felt so very good that she couldn't stop. It was feeling better and better then her finger touched something that had her screaming. It flooded her system with a feeling she'd never felt before. It took her a moment to recover. She didn't know what it was but she loved the feeling of it. It took some work but she got her legs back under her nice and strong before finishing to wash herself.

She saw the word DRY so she pressed it and suddenly there was air hitting her everywhere. Including where forced air hadn't ever gone before. Then just as she was just about dry it stopped.

Now she had a new problem. What to wear? He wanted to throw the only clothes she had out his airlock. She didn't think they were that bad but she opened the door and didn't see him.

She did, however, see some clothes laid out on one of the beds. She tried to put them on but they were way too big for her. At least the shorts had a drawstring so she could keep them on. As for the t-shirt she wasn't certain just what to do until she found that if she pulled the bottom of it over to one side she could put a sort of knot in it. Next came the socks that were so big and long they reached her knees.

Now that she was dressed she went looking for him but stopped at the bump in the middle of the cargo bay way back just in front of the bunk beds. Kneeling down she found it was as hard as the floor so what it was doing there didn't make any sense to her. And he hadn't said anything about it.

Looking far forward she saw him sitting his his chair. That had her bypassing everything else, including the kitchen, and sitting down in her chair.

"Feeling better now?" Rick asked her. She had showered and he had heard a muffled scream and could only guess what that had been. Though it fit in perfectly with the shot he had given her.

"Yes." She felt amazing actually. "My master is going to kill both of us when he finds us." Kate figured she was dead.

"Perhaps but I'm betting he isn't concerned if you come back at all." Kate thought he was nuts. Why would he ever think that?

"You were forced to break something and he was angry, right?" Kate nodded, not that Rick even looked at her. "Then he struck you and stormed off, didn't he?" Rick surmised that was what he'd done since she had been left lying on the floor, sniffling from being hit hard.

Kate nodded. "He was supposedly your master and owned you because he had bought you from someone. But if he wanted to keep you he would have tagged you somehow, but he didn't. Oh he'll curse you for going missing and he might actually go looking for you. Though when he doesn't find you he'll curse you again but that'll be the end of it. He'll complain to anyone who listens that he paid good money for you and this is what he gets. She runs away. He'll complain that he should never have bought you in the first place." Rick could see it happening.

Kate wasn't so sure but he sounded sure so he might be right.

"Where are we going?" Kate's voice quavered a little; she was still nervous.

"There's an old space station that used to be part of the war against the Alliance long ago. The Browns built it to be part of their main base. The Alliance never did find it, not that it mattered. They won the battle anyway. It's just on the fringe between here and the outer rim which is where we'll be going. Out on the rim are planets and establishments that the Alliance cares nothing about. Out there are a few miners scraping out a living.

"Their primary problem is getting what they mine to a processing plant farther into the known area of space. If you can get in, which is usually the easy part, you can load up what he's worked so hard at mining. He'll pay for someone to take his load out to a processing plant. Then that plant will pay for the ore you deliver," Rick explained.

"Why can't they do it themselves?" It was their ore and they mined it out of the ground. So load it up and deliver it.

"Pirates. All of them are mostly leftovers from the war. They use leftover military stuff that the Browns abandoned. They're more than willing to let the miner bust his back to mine the ore. They like to prey on cargo ships that try and get it from the mine to a planet with a processor on it."

Kate sucked in a breath. The man that had picked her up was about to try and get both of them killed.

"Relax, this cargo ship is heavily armed. In addition to the rail guns I have two banks of missiles that swing out from the side. The fore missile wings are shorter than the longer ones at the aft of the ship. Besides I'm a lot faster than a normal cargo ship.

"It might get hairy but we'll make it and it'll be a good pay day." Rick was looking forward to earning that amount of money.

"So what's at the station before this mine?" Kate wasn't used to asking questions. Her master didn't want her to speak unless she was spoken to.

"Clothes and two more things for you. Pretty sure you would like to wear something that would actually fit you."

She clapped both hands over her mouth and stared at the back of his head. He was going to buy her clothes!? Just who was this man? No one had ever been this nice to her before.


	3. Chapter 3

**Firefly**

_Chapter 3_

Kate had chosen to sleep in the bed above his. It was only as she was climbing to get up into her bed that she really noticed that the bed on the ground floor was actually bigger than this one. What was now her bed, unless she changed her mind, was basically dead center. The bed below was bigger on either side.

She was still wearing the clothes he had given her when she was in bed. The bed she soon learned was really comfortable and soft. Maybe that was the problem, it was too soft. She was used to a hard floor sleeping on a mat and this was anything but that.

As a result she would fall asleep only to wake up a moment later. It was during one of these times as she twisted around in bed she found that with just a little effort on her part she could look down and see him sleeping.

She grinned. He trusted her enough to let her sleep right above him. Granted she didn't have a mean bone in her body. She was a slave used to receiving punishment and not in giving it to someone. So hurting him really never entered her mind.

Kate was still on the edge of her bed and was looking down at him. The bed sheet that she wasn't even using had come down his body a bit and she was able to tell that he wasn't wearing much. That had her wondering just what he was wearing. Like this all she saw was his bare chest.

"Can't sleep?" His eyes were still closed but he had asked her a question.

Kate bit her lower lip; she turned over and ignored what he had said. She'd been caught spying on him and she was embarrassed.

"Kate?" She hadn't answered him and instead had moved to the center of the bed. He knew this because her weight was now in the middle.

Kate still had both of her hands over her mouth after being caught staring at him. "No." Thanks to her hands and how softly she had said it even she barely heard herself.

"Then come down here."

Kate's eyes shot open. "What?" He didn't actually mean sleep with him, did he? Her hands were still over her mouth and now her heart was beating about as fast as it ever had.

"I don't know where your old master made you sleep, but if sleeping on a bed all alone is something that you can't do then climb down here," Rick suggested.

Kate, however, stayed right where she was. He was offering for her to sleep with him! The only time she'd ever been in a bed was her master's bed when he wanted to rape her.

"I'm…I'm fine, just different," Kate said, her voice shaking a bit.

"As you wish. If you don't like that one, try one of the others. It's just the two of us and there are three spare beds." Rick rolled over and hit his pillow a couple of times.

"I'm fine." Only she wasn't fine. She was far from fine. She'd been looking at his exposed skin and doing that was doing something to her. She could feel she was getting wet between her legs and it wasn't going away.

Kate waited a while and hoped he'd gone to sleep so she climbed down. She went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet, willing herself to pee. If she was leaking she needed to solve that problem. Only it wasn't that easy and not much came out. Satisfied she dried herself and put her shorts back on and climbed back into her bed.

Only as she climbed she looked down at him. She saw him lying on his side and his sheet had fallen even farther so that even more skin was exposed. Still she got into bed and laid there silently but couldn't get to sleep.

Kate carefully rolled over so she could look down at him again. He had rolled over onto his back and his sheet had slipped down even more. It was enough that now she could see the top of his shorts.

One hand was on his chest and one hand was over… well, it was directly over. It was enough that she rolled back over onto her back as her heart started pounding again; she was getting wet between her legs once again.

Okay, maybe sleeping up here wasn't her best idea. But what was happening to her? Being raped had hurt and yet here she was wishing he wasn't wearing shorts and that the sheet went low enough for her to see something.

Worse, the more she thought about it the wetter she got. She turned over and buried her head into her pillow, desperately trying to get her mind off of his almost naked body that was directly below her.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Huh, what?" Kate twisted to see Rick standing there looking clean, fresh, and dressed.

"Time to get up, sleepy head." Rick poked her again. "I'll leave you a new t-shirt and shorts for you to change into. We'll be landing at the station later today to get your clothes and two other things. Now hop in the shower then you can have breakfast." Rick left her and went to the bridge so he could sit down and see for himself how things were going.

Kate was surprised. She had actually fallen asleep finally. She stretched to get the kinks out then climbed down and noticed he'd made his bed. She was guessing it must be late. Her old master had never let her sleep in. There was always cleaning to do.

Kate took off her clothes and turned on the shower. It felt great like before, however while she was cleaning her core like she always did, it caused those feelings again.

She enjoyed it so she just kept doing it. She moaned and was starting to lose her strength to keep standing but she couldn't stop. One hand slapped up against the shower wall while the other worked furiously rubbing and touching her most sensitive part until finally she screamed. She kept rubbing and stroking herself as she calmed down. God, but doing that felt so good.

Finally clean and dry she stepped out naked and found a new t-shirt and shorts on her bed. Looking far forward she saw him sitting his chair. Suddenly she really wanted him to turn and look at her while she stood there naked. To catch her at doing this.

She was dressed and moved up to stand behind him and look at what he was doing.

"Feel better?" Rick knew she had showered and that she had screamed at what he was sure was an orgasm.

"Yes." Kate kept looking over his shoulder.

"We're still all alone out here, which is nothing new. Space, in case you didn't know, is vast and mostly empty. Plus being in FTL means no one can attack us. Last I knew even the Alliance can't reach a ship that's in FTL. To attack a ship in FTL you need to be in the same tunnel as they are. Maybe some day they'll figure it out." Rick would put money on them trying to figure out how to do just that.

"Got about three hours until we reach the station. Just don't expect much when we get there," Rick warned her. "Ready for breakfast?" He'd waited for her so they could eat together.

Rick got out of his chair and went to the kitchen and had Kate sit down.

"Okay, these three panels in the wall are breakfast. The next three are lunch and the next three are dinner. Silverware and other things are in the drawers. You know where the glasses are and you know where the drinks are located." Rick opened a panel and handed her a silver packet.

"There's only the one oven so we have to take turns. When the panels run out there are more in the floor below our feet. You just take them from there and refill the panels. Same for the drinks."

"Just take your bag, put it in the oven, press the panel, and wait for it to beep at you. It will read what's on the packet and cook it for the desired length. Now grab a glass and select your drink." Rick wasn't going to help her with this. He wanted to see if she'd learned and remembered.

Rick watched her get a glass, get the panel in the ceiling to come down, and select something. She pushed it back up then put water in her glass. Just as she was done the oven beeped and he watched her take it out and help herself to a fork.

"Very good, you're a quick learner. Maybe I can even teach you how to fly the ship." Rick was impressed. She wasn't just pretty, she was smart.

Kate blushed as she ripped open her bag and felt her stomach growl the moment she smelled what was inside. She brought up to her nose so she could breathe it in deeply. This time she ate slowly as she watched Rick do what she had just done. But his drink looked and smelled different. She was feeling brave so she asked a question. "What's that?" Kate pointed to his drink.

"Coffee. I have three different flavors onboard. Want to try a sip?" Rick pushed his glass mug across to her. He watched her look at it and smell it, watched her scrunch up her face that told him she didn't like the smell. However, she did lift it up and sip it. The look of her face and how fast she put the mug down and pushed it back to him which told him she hated it.

"Don't like it I take it?" Rick queried and watched her shake her head.

Kate had no idea why he was drinking that crap. It was hot, it was bitter, and it was foul tasting. She drank half of her glass just to try and kill the taste.

"It grows on you. Out here this is real coffee. What the central planets in the Alliance drink I don't know. Probably very different." Rick had never been on one and had no reason to want to.

"Explain?" Kate asked as she ate which also helped to kill the taste of his coffee.

"The Alliance? Let's see. The Alliance is mostly made up of six central planets. You know where you used to live? Now think that all the buildings are made of glass and steel and several can reach the clouds. Green parks everywhere and lakes and oceans. You travel in cars and trains that fly. Everything is beautiful."

"Sounds nice," Kate murmured. It sounded a lot better than nice. It sounded magical.

"You would think so, wouldn't you? Outside of the six planets are a series of planets that surround them all around." Rick used his hand to show a ball. "These planets are part of the Alliance but they don't get the benefits that the six core planets do. These planets all grow food for the six core planets. That's their one and only function.

"These planets get to keep a fraction of what they make to feed themselves. Everything else goes to the six core planets. Which is also where the Alliance builds all of their military ships.

"Now outside of these planets is another series of planets. Again they surround those planets." Rick showed her another ball.

"These planets are a mixture of food and resources. The Alliance or core planets need all this food since they don't have any farms or mines of their own. All of it's shipped it. All of it.

"One of those planets is where you were. Where we used to be. Now outside of that is what's called _The Rim_. It's a lot of planets that create yet another ball." Rick showed her another one. "These planets mostly don't have much. They definitely don't have glass and steel skyscrapers, no flying cars, or flying trains. No parks filled with grass. No A/C and limited heating.

"There are farms though most don't have machines to help them. A lot of it's done the old fashioned way, by hand using beasts of burden. They scratch out a living and barely get by. It can be rough."

"Why live there?" Kate asked him since it sounded bad to her.

"No Alliance. They can do what they please. What they earn is theirs and the Alliance doesn't get a piece of it. They don't have to sell it for a fraction of what it's worth because the Alliance says so," Rick explained.

"They hate the Alliance that much?" Kate questioned.

"That's what started the war that lasted years. The Alliance versus the Browns. They called themselves Browns because they were all of the planets around the six core planets. If those planets decided to even participate." Rick knew not all of the outer planets participated.

He explained the reason for the name. "Those planets were mostly more brown when you looked at them than the core planets.

"It was basically a fight against the slavery of the Alliance. The outer planets were tired of being treated so unfairly so they fought back." Rick sighed as he thought back on it all.

"I take it the Browns lost." Kate wondered if Rick was in that war and which side he was on.

"Yes. There was one battle that sealed the Browns' fate. One big battle that they should never have fought. Straight up battles were just what the Alliance wanted and was good at. The Browns were good at only one thing. Hit and run. Make the Alliance suffer. Maybe suffer enough that terms of a truce could be made

"But we didn't. Instead we ended up in this big fight and got slaughtered and that was basically the end of the war." Rick was shaking his head. Then a beeping sound got him up and to his seat on the bridge.

Kate just sat there. He'd been in the war and it sounded like he was a Brown. She wondered just what he had done in the war.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate went forward and sat in her chair. "Strap in," Rick told her so she pulled the straps over her shoulders and connected them all. She also put on her headset like Rick was wearing.

"Here we go, exiting FTL," Rick cautioned and suddenly the tunnel was gone and in its place was something she had never dreamed of in her life. "Welcome to Telnab station."

Rick went back to talking as they got closer and closer.

To Kate it looked like one massive asteroid and five smaller ones that were around it. She could see buildings on all of them as they got closer.

"What are the big round things?" The big one had five of them on top and one on the side.

"The two big ones in the middle are shield generators while the others are power plants. The main asteroid is mostly hollow. The other five not so much. And yes, those are buildings on top and filed with people. Or at least they used to be. Like a lot of places out here, everything that's anything is shipped in. Absolutely everything."

Kate's eyes were huge as she looked at everything. "What are those two big holes?" It looked like they weren't going anywhere near them.

"That's part military and part shipping. Everything that's shipped in goes in there and docks. In there also during the war were most of the Browns's warships. Not sure what's in there now." He was betting a few old warships were still in there though he was betting they only came out when a pirate was stupid enough to attack.

"Were you in the war?" Kate asked him and instantly worried that she had overstepped. She wasn't used to being allowed to ask questions.

"That's one way of putting it," Rick admitted. "I was in the 31st Marines. I was a sniper and a damn good one. And yes I've killed people. A lot of people. All Alliance and they deserved it."

"Coming in for docking." Kate saw that they were really close now. Based on where they'd been going they were way off to one side of the main asteroid.

"Locked on and shutting down." Rick proceeded to kill everything. "Let's go find you some clothes to wear. Hope you aren't self-conscious about how you look in public." What she was wearing was all she had anyway.

"I'm fine." Kate knew that no one could see anything anyway.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Security," Rick explained as men waved various things over them; dogs sniffed them all over and ignored them.

Once past that Kate saw that the place was old-looking, dirty-looking and dirty-smelling. She wrinkled her nose since it was bad.

"Smells like they haven't cleaned the screens in a while." Rick didn't remember it smelling this bad before. "Take my hand. I'm not losing you in this place." He held out his hand and waited until Kate took it.

They walked for a while and took old escalators some of which worked and others that didn't. Then finally they came out into a central core area that was a vast open space. There were old neon signs everywhere telling them what that place was.

"This way." Rick dragged her a direction and took her into a store that was on the ground level.

Kate saw a lot of clothes. A whole lot of clothes. She watched Rick pull old fashioned cart loose that actually used wheels. "Here, push for me." Rick wanted her where he could see her after he let go of her. In this place an untagged slave could end up anywhere.

"Women's section, that way," Rick pointed and let Kate push.

"You look like a 35B to me." Rick took down three different bras and threw them into the cart. "Maybe the same hips?" He picked up a pair of panties, held them up against her, then changed his mind and tossed in five of those.

"Push," Rick said. Now they were at pants. Some of them looked dirty. "Too short, too short, too short. You just had to have long legs didn't you?" Right now Rick was annoyed, however truth be told he loved her long legs. That and she was pretty was had him stopping when he found her in the first place.

"Sorry," Kate blurted then realized what she'd just said. She bit her lower lip to keep from saying it again.

"AH, finally." Rick threw in three of them. Each was a different color.

"They're dirty," Kate commented.

"Almost everything in here is dirty. That's why they cost so little. We'll wash them when we get back to the ship."

"We have a way to wash clothes?" Kate mostly said to herself since she didn't remember seeing anything.

"Push." Rick was done with pants and they moved over to tops. "Hm, if 35B works then you must be this size," Rick muttered as he found something, put it up against Kate to judge, and chucked it into the cart. Followed shortly by five more.

"Push." Rick had her going to socks and shoes area. Various socks went into the cart while shoes Kate needed to try them on to see if they fit. Once they had her size Kate watched as two pairs of tennis shoes went into the cart. One pair of huge, heavy boots went in as well as two pairs of high heels.

Kate picked up one of the heels to look at it. "You don't like heels?" Rick queried.

"I've never worn them. I've seen them." Mostly she went barefoot.

"You'll learn. Now we need a couple of dresses. Push."

"Dresses!?" Kate watched where Rick was taking her. She had never, ever worn anything like what was in this section. It was a mix of garbage and items that were far too nice for this place.

Kate was grinning as she watched him ignore what she thought was trash and was searching through the really good stuff.

"Long legs, long legs." Rick was back to the problem he had had with the pants. Kate bit her lower lip to keep from saying sorry again.

"Ooo, how about this one." Rick took it off the rod and put it up against Kate. "I think it's a pant suit with a long cape and not a dress but it looks nice and the color suits you." Rick put it into the cart and kept looking.

Kate reached out to touch it. It felt smooth in her fingers and it didn't look dirty. She smiled, wondering what she was going to look like wearing it. Then in went two more before she could look them over.

"Push, we're done here. Oh, wait. One last thing. Push." Rick directed her over to coats.

"Which one?" Rick held up two of them and was actually allowing her to choose something.

They were both black. One had huge lapels at the collar while the other had fur at the collar. The one with the huge lapels looked like it was held closed with a belt while the other had an internal zipper.

"That one." Kate chose the one with the fur at the color. It looked softer and maybe closed better. Kate watched it go into the cart.

"Push, we're out of here." Kate's smile was wide all the way to the front. He was buying her clothes and he had even allowed her to pick something for herself. She didn't know just who this man was, but she was learning to like him a lot. He was way better than her old master.

She was still pushing her cart out of that store and had to search for a working escalator to take the cart up with.

Now they were standing out in front of a different store. This one said something about piercings and tattoos.


	4. Chapter 4

**Firefly**

_Chapter 4_

Kate watched as Rick filled out this very long form then signed it. That same form went onto a screen as light ran across it from below. What that did Kate had no idea. She also watched him give him money.

Carol waved to her, "Come on, Kate, follow me in my workshop.''

"Go on, I'll be here when they're done," Rick told her.

The two women entered a room resembling a medical practice, undoubtedly dedicated to piercing. There were instruments everywhere of all shapes and sizes. And in the middle, a gynecological chair.

"Take off your clothes, slave.'' Carol had seen both tattoos on her hands.

Kate began to lift her t-shirt over her head when Carol turned to her, "No, just the shorts."

Kate was surprised but obeyed. She untied her shorts and took them off. She slid the piece of fabric over her legs and was naked to her waist.

"Get into position.'' Carol pointed at the chair.

Kate hesitated for a moment looking at the seat but quickly put herself in a comfortable posture, her legs spread, her feet in the stirrups.

Carol grabbed her stool, her instrument table, and put on a pair of surgeon's gloves. She opened a tube of cream, put a dab of it on Kate's pubis, and carefully spread it out. She spoke again when she applied the cream at the base of the clitoris, "Relax, it'll be better." She continued for a few seconds before inserting a finger into her pussy.

"Perfect. Your clitoris is ready, so we'll be able to pierce. Ready?''

"Yes, " Kate replied in a voice that showed she was not very sure. She was a slave so what choice did she really have?

Kate took a deep breath and shivered as Carol applied a fresh antiseptic wipe then suddenly a terrible pain stabbed her. Carol had passed the needle through the clitoris hood. She quickly removed it and passed a gold ring instead, closing it and allowing the device to seal itself closed.

Kate could feel every beat of her heart directly in her clitoris. It was incredibly painful and pleasant at the same time.

"That's it, it's over," Carol said. "Be careful. It's going to be painful for a few days. Keep your hands away from it all except to clean it and avoid infection."

Carol handed her a box of tissues, "Wipe off the cream and wet, it's not great for the rest. Now we have to go find Mike!" Carol left her sitting in the chair.

Soon a man replaced her. "I'm Mike, I'm here to apply your tattoo." He had his own table and made sure her pubic area was clean and free of any hair. "This will be a bit painful but it's small so it will only take a minute."

Kate watched him use a device that sounded like a drill since it buzzed a lot and instantly there was a small amount of pain. It took him only a minute and he was finished with the device. Then he rubbed a stick filled with something over it. "Here, see for yourself." Mike handed her a small mirror so Kate could see what those two had done to her. She saw a ring that had a tiny bulb attached just above her clitoris. It went thought the hood just above it. Just above all that she saw three small letters. **RC's**

"The ring contains all of the information your master provided us with. Now if you two ever get separated and someone runs a scanner over you they'll find the ring that will tell them how to contact your master and tell him how to come retrieve you," Mike explained. "The letters are simply a reminder to whoever gets this far that you are owned by someone. Someone who does not share."

That had Kate looking at it all again. Her previous master hadn't tagged her in any way, save for the tattoos on the back of both of her hands, let alone like this. She smiled. Rick wanted to keep her and if she got lost he wanted a way to find her again. Rick wanted to keep her!

Mike took the mirror from her. "Remember what Carol told you. Don't touch it except to clean it to prevent infection. If you or your master see any discoloration that means it's infected. Give it a couple days and you should be good."

"Congratulations slave. You have a master that wants to keep you and this is about as permanent as it gets." Mike got up off his stool. "You can get dressed now and go back to your master."

Kate walked back out to Rick, smiling until she suddenly realized that if she wasn't careful that new ring would tap the top of her clit, sending waves of pleasure through her body.

"All done?" Rick asked her, knowing full well what they had done.

"Yes." Kate looked again at all the clothes he had bought her. "You want to keep me." That was assuming they had told her the truth, that she was never going to be parted from him again. Unlike her previous master who beat her Rick had actually barely touched her let alone strike her.

"Of course." Rick thought it was a stupid question. "We can go back to the ship now. Unless there's something else you want?"

Kate shook her head. She couldn't think of a thing. She already had more than she'd ever had before and that was when she was still with her parents.

"Can you walk or should I put you in the cart?" Rick smiled as he teased her since he knew just what that ring was going to do to her. Between the shot he'd already given her, the two more yet to come, and that ring, she was going to find just walking a new experience.

"I can walk." She wasn't a baby. Kate soon found that if she wasn't careful that ring would hit her clitoris and it had already happened often enough that she was about to explode just as they reached the airlock to the ship.

"I'll let you get cleaned up. I'll put a load of your clothes in to clean them then you can decide what you want to wear today. While you do that we'll be heading for a mining planet." Rick went to his chair to pilot the ship.

Kate had been told not to touch it except to clean it and the second she did that she erupted and screams from the pleasure it was providing her. She had no idea what was happening to her but she really liked it. It was a pleasure she had never experienced before.

Kate came out clean and went through her clothes. Looking forward she saw Rick sitting in his chair and couldn't see her.

Kate chose a pair of panties, then a bra, followed by a pair of blue jeans, and a simple enough top. Socks and tennis shoes were last. Then she went about putting everything else away where she could find room for it. As she did that ring kept touching her clitoris.

She was already wet and all worked up when she came up behind Rick. She saw the tunnel from last time that told her they were in FTL. "All done," Kate said.

"Excellent." Rick got out of his chair and looked her over. "Well, don't you clean up nice. Spin for me, please?" That made Kate smile again and gave him a quick spin so he could see all of her.

"Medical for me, please?" Rick had two things he needed to do.

Kate felt that ring as she walked to medical and waited for him to pull the bed down from the wall.

"Hop up for me and lie down." Rick watched her do just that. Lying there like this the ring didn't touch anything really or at least Kate didn't feel it. "Any pain?" Rick inquired and she shook her head.

Then she watched him stab her with this tiny pin and place the blood into another tiny tube then into the wall. Then he took out a syringe and filled it with that blue stuff that sparkled. Just like last time he wrapped something around her arm, wiped a spot, then inserted the needle and plunged the blue stuff into her. Taking it back out he pressed something to that spot and asked her to hold it for him.

Rick looked at the blood results and was satisfied. "You're going to need one more shot in a couple of days. Before we arrive at the mining planet."

"May I ask a question?" Kate asked him, knowing that she had already asked him questions without asking first.

"I believe you just did," Rick teased her. Which had Kate thinking. She had indeed just asked him a question, however, that wasn't her question.

"May I ask another question?" Kate suddenly saw the trap she had gotten herself into. Rick grinned at her. He was teasing her.

"What's that bump in the middle of the floor?" She kept going around it all the time but couldn't see anything or figure out what it was.

It wasn't the question Rick was anticipating. He expected her to ask him about the blue drug he was giving her. "That's the cockpit to a short range P52 space superiority fighter. It's a little old and outdated compared to Alliance Technology. Though out here it's still state of the art.

"It has a massive Gatling gun straight down the middle. Then there are a pair of railguns, one in each wing. There are also four small mines that can be ejected out the back.

"I haven't had reason to use it, but I got lucky when I found it right after the war so I kept it. It might come in handy some day. In a pinch it can hold two people and be used to escape the ship if it ever comes to that."

He smiled at her and put his hand out to help her get off the medical bed. "Ready for lunch?" Just as he did that and closed up the bed that ring touched her clitoris. Kate hissed as she was just short of erupting yet again. She stood there trying to get a hold of herself while Rick took a couple of steps to the kitchen.

"You're not hungry?" Rick noticed she hadn't moved yet. He hid his grin since he understood what was happening. Especially after that last shot.

"I'm coming." Kate took a step and didn't see Rick put his fist in his mouth because of her statement.

Kate found hers, save for a drink, waiting for her by the time she safely reached the table and sat down. "Would my lady like me to pour?" Rick was willing to give her a break since he was betting if she stood up she could climax right then and there.

"Please." She would take anything so long as it wasn't coffee since she didn't dare move.

This time she found that lunch didn't require the oven. It was meant to eat cold since it was a sandwich.

"How do the clothes fit?" Rick had done his best given that that store was really cheap.

Kate smiled. "Pretty good. I'm not used to wearing shoes. I always went barefoot."

"You'll adapt. Where we're going you're going to need to make sure those big boots fit you with those socks on," Rick warned her.

"May I ask a question?" Kate asked him and saw him grinning wide. She bit her lower lip. She'd walked right into that one yet again. "What's going to happen? When we get there, I mean."

"It's a mine." Rick wasn't sure what else to tell her. "He digs out the ore and puts it into crates or something. We put into the cargo hold of the ship. There." Rick pointed and Kate turned to look. "He pays us to haul it to a processing plant. Our job is to make it past any pirates that decide to show up. Most of the pirates are in small groups and not usually well armed. They tend to bother cargo ships since none of those are armed and move slowly.

"Then when we land we unload the cargo and he pays us for delivery. After he processes it he sends the money to the miners account just like he is going to do for us. Then if he has enough we go back and do it again. None of us actually use real money. It's all done using transfers, or at least it is for this miner. Others may do things differently."

It didn't sound too dangerous to her depending on just how dangerous these pirates were. "Then what?" Kate queried.

"We find other cargo that needs to be moved. It's what I do. I've been doing it since the war ended. My first year I worked for a cargo company but I wasn't comfortable working like that." Rick shrugged. "So I bought my own little cargo ship and did a number of trips. I've only had this baby for about two months. This will actually be my first cargo trip using it."

"So nothing happened the other times?" Kate was still focused on these pirates.

Rick waved his hand at her. "Nah. Remember space is big and those pirates have to be in the right spot at just the right time or they don't see anything and neither do you." He wasn't concerned. Besides this time he was armed and running a railgun was cheap. Now all those missiles were another story but if you knew where to look it could be cheap. Dealing with those guys were the real pirates.

Rick took hers since she was done and put it either in the trash or in the small dishwasher.

"Clean clothes?" Kate asked since everything needed cleaned regardless of how it looked.

"LAUNDRY!" Rick smacked his forehead and Kate smiled. He was still handsome, a little silly, really nice, and occasionally a little funny. And he was treating her like no one save for her parents ever had.

Rick got up and saw that Kate wasn't following him. He grinned but offered her an out. "If you're tired you can stay right there."

"I'm coming." Kate got up very carefully. However, by the time she'd made it to her bed and where she had stored some of her clothes she only needed one more touch before she was going to scream. It also had her whimpering.

"The laundry is here next to the bathroom. You just open this door and this is the unit. It's a combo unit. It first cleans and then dewrinkles." Rick looked at what needs to be washed and divides it out based on colors and what he thought it was mad of since a few didn't have tags any longer.

"The unit's already loaded with nylon beads that sit in the outer of two nested drums. When both drums rotate, the absorbent beads fall through the mesh of the inner drum to tumble with your laundry, where they dislodge and trap dirt. After the wash cycle finishes, the outer drum stops moving and centrifugal force pushes the beads back through the mesh into the outer drum, where they await your next load. No detergent, fabric softener, or stain remover needed. Then just ten minutes on tumble dry and your clothes will be done. It'll buzz when the cycle's done. Then you can do the next load."

Rick left her to go to the living room area. Kate wanted to follow but didn't dare move. "You might want to wash it again," he called to her.

Kate took that opening to go into the bathroom and wash, however the second she touched it to clean it she screamed and whimpered as she slowly calmed down. The pleasure was so very intense. She had never known anything like this before in her life.

Kate managed to finish washing and putting her clothes back on. Then she walked slowly and carefully toward Rick who was standing at something. When suddenly she heard music.

"What's that?" She knew it was music but didn't recognize who.

"Bob Marley." Rick saw a blank look on her face. "You don't know Bob Marley?" Rick couldn't believe it as Kate shook her head no. "That's unacceptable. This was the greatest album ever made. …Ever." Rick turned up the volume so she could hear each note easily.

"He had this idea. He believed that you could cure racism and hate, literally. Cure it by injecting music and love into peoples' lives. One day he was scheduled to perform at a peace rally. The Alliance came to his house and shot his family down. Two days later he walked out onto that stage and sang. Somebody asked him why? He answered, 'The people who were trying to make this world worse are not taking a day off. How can I?' …Light up the darkness."

Kate saw tears running down his cheek and couldn't stop herself. She reached up to wipe them away for him. "He meant something to you?"

"Yeah. After I found his music it got me out of the war. I quit. I'd done a lot already and didn't need to do more. Maybe too much in fact." Rick sat down on the sofa and wiped away his own tears. Tears he was sure he had run out of long before now. "I got a lot of people killed that didn't have to die. All because I was following orders. Those tens of thousands are dead because of me. The war could have been over. But no, I had to follow orders." Kate sat down next to him.

She didn't have an answer for him so she just held onto him and tried to take away some of his pain. She didn't get it. In fact she knew very little about the war itself. She was old enough to know it existed but she didn't feel like it had ever touched her life. Maybe it had, but just not directly that she could remember.


	5. Chapter 5

**Firefly**

_Chapter 5_

Kate was tossing and turning yet again that night. She couldn't get to sleep. It felt like she was full of energy but wasn't using any of it and it was keeping her awake. Worse she wanted to touch the ring that kept hitting her clitoris. It was just that it hadn't been two days yet. She really, really wanted to feel that again.

She had cleaned it before going to bed and had screamed once more. While that had helped she felt that it wasn't enough. She needed another one, however, she had cleaned it and couldn't touch it.

She was starting to whimper and whine as she tossed and turned.

Kate heard his voice call out. "Can't sleep again?"

"Sorry." Blast it! She'd said that word again. She bit her lower lip again and was again all set to say sorry for saying sorry. "No."

"Come on down here." Rick knew he couldn't do anything about it like he wanted to. She had to heal first.

"What?" Kate had heard him but didn't understand it or was afraid that she did understand.

"Just get down here so we can both get some sleep." He was mildly amazed that she was even climbing down.

He threw his top sheet back a bit and raised his arms. "Come on." Rick watched as she climbed into his bed and allowed him to pull her in close. He was responsible for this and he felt a little guilty though he was still seeing the end result in the future so he would just have to put up with this part.

Kate felt a whole lot of skin and now that she was really close she could also smell him. She was willing to admit that this was really, really nice. But it was also lighting a fire in her and she needed to clean herself or touch herself or something very, very badly.

"Better?" Rick asked her.

"No... Yes… Maybe." Kate couldn't make up her mind.

"Well that was clear as mud," Rick commented.

"Sorry." Kate moaned, upset that she'd said it yet again and pressed her face into his body so she could disappear. Except that just got more of his smell to enter her system.

Then she moved her leg and placed it between his. That caused her core to rub up against his leg. After just two simple strokes she cried out but was muffled since her face was still buried into his body. Now that it had happened she felt a lot better and was able to relax.

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Kate's eyes snapped open and she looked around. She was still in his bed and she was now on her back. Rick was on his side and turning her head to look at him she saw that he was still asleep. However, there was one more thing. She was soaking wet between her legs and she looked down at the pressure on her chest and saw his hand on her left breast. He was touching her! Her previous master never touched her. Not like this or in any other interesting way. Rick was just so different.

Kate didn't dare put her hand on his hand to make it move so she tried to twist her body a little to make his hand move on her breast. To feel more of his touch. Then suddenly his hand was gone and so was Rick. He had just turned over onto his side and now his back was to her. Kate moaned softly since that hadn't worked out very well.

She was soaking wet and she was on fire yet again. Since Rick wasn't on her any longer she got up, went into the bathroom to use the toilet, and clean herself. While that helped a lot it wasn't enough for a change. So she turned on the shower and cleaned and washed.

Coming out of the bathroom she found Rick still in bed and on his side. So she got dressed and headed to the kitchen. She knew how to cook now and where everything was so she just picked one and heated it up, selected something to drink, and enjoyed her breakfast.

Kate was eating slowly and was almost done when Rick showed up. "Did you finally get to sleep?" He hoped so.

"Yes." She wasn't sure if being next to him had helped or not, but it had been nice.

"Good." Rick put his in the oven and selected more coffee and sat down to eat. "We arrive at the mine tomorrow. Hopefully he'll have something for us. You also need one last shot. Then you'll be done for at least a year." He wasn't sure about that but it should be good enough.

"Have you been here before?" Kate meant the mine and hauling cargo for him.

"Once back when I was hauling for the company. I haven't been back there since. It'll be fine even if he doesn't have much." Rick shrugged. "It's only costing me food. Maybe he'll have a lead on someone else and we can go there."

"Why did you stop and take me?" Surely there were other slaves he could have gotten.

"The truth?" Rick stopped eating. "There are several reasons, actually. One, you were beautiful. Two, you were crying and I can't stand seeing a beautiful woman cry. Three, you looked lost and alone and needed help. Lying on the floor surrounded by broken whatever it was. Fourth…" Rick didn't know if he should tell her of if he could tell anyone. Even himself.

"Fourth…," he swallowed hard. "I was lonely. It was just me. Almost everyone I know from the war is dead. Even my parents are dead. No wife and no prospects of ever finding one. No children and running around running cargo all alone sounded…lonely." There Rick had admitted it.

"Sorry." Kate cursed herself for constantly saying that word. "I mean… I don't know what I mean. I'm still sorry." Then a smile lit up Kate's face. "You think I'm beautiful?" Her previous master had never complimented her about anything, ever.

"Exceedingly, Kate. He may not have wanted you and not tagged you, but I do and I'm keeping you. That tag isn't going to come off easily and tattoos are difficult and costly to get rid of."

"You're smiling at me," Rick mentioned.

"You called me beautiful. No one but my mother has ever called me beautiful." Kate kept smiling.

"Well then just stick around, you might get tired of hearing it," Rick offered.

Kate shook her head. She doubted that very much.

Rick was done eating; he finished off his coffee and cleaned up. "Let's get you on the medical bed. We need to check your tag and give you a shot." Rick went to the medical bed. Kate, though, moved slowly to prevent that tag from tapping her clitoris again. She failed but it wasn't that bad.

"Take off your shoes, pants, and panties if you are wearing any and hop up here." Rick pulled the bed down which turned everything on. While she was undressing he got everything ready and waited.

Kate hopped up on the table and lay down on her back. Rick poked her, transferred the blood to a tiny vial, and put it into the machine. "Yep, one last shot." Rick was betting this last one should really get her blood boiling.

Kate was soon watching as the blue stuff went into her arm. "What does it do?" This was her third. She couldn't say no to him. He was her master. Even better, he wanted to keep her and she wanted to stay. He was the best master ever.

Rick was done and threw the syringe away. "You remember being raped, yes?" Rick watched as she nodded. "You remember both areas hurting all the time, yes?" She nodded again.

"Did the lady who tagged you say anything about what you looked like?" Kate shook her head. "Things have changed now haven't they? It doesn't hurt any longer and I'm betting if you looked it would look better. In fact it feels pretty good now, doesn't it?" Rick inquired.

That had Kate smiling. It definitely didn't hurt any longer. In fact as that shot traveled through her veins she felt like she was on fire. She needed something and she needed it badly. What she wanted to do was touch that ring and make herself explode.

"Let's make sure it's not infected." Rick moved to the end of the bed. "Bend your knees and spread your legs for me, please."

Kate knew she had to but he had also said that word again. He was saying it like she had a choice when she didn't. She bent her legs at her knees and tried to spread her legs wide without falling off the bed. She felt him grab her legs and pulled her to the end of the bed closer to him.

Rick was seeing it for the first time and even though he knew what to expect, she was gorgeous. Her tag was perfectly placed. It was going to tap her clitoris a lot and get her incredibly hot almost all day long. Then he saw his initials and couldn't help but grin.

"Let's see." Rick used a finger to move her clitoris hood a bit to make the ring move a little and listened to Kate moan. It didn't look red any longer if it ever had. Not looking after it was done was his mistake because he had nothing to compare it to.

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**This section is more rated M so you may decide to just scroll down and avoid this.**

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Rick used a finger to spread her lips wide and saw she was getting wet and listened to Kate moan again. Then he tested just how wet she was by inserting a finger into her vagina slowly. Kate sucked in a breath and moaned even louder. "Rick!" She wasn't sure if she was warning him that if he did much else she was going to explode or was begging him to do a lot more so that she _could_ explode.

Rick withdrew his finger and watched as Kate placed her hands on either side and pulled. She needed more, a whole lot more. Instead of his finger he plunged his thumb into her vagina. He listened to Kate cry out and she squirmed all over the bed. He pulled it out and plunged it back in a few times.

"**RICK!**" Kate screamed out his name as she exploded and Rick could feel her contractions of her orgasm around his thumb. Rick removed his thumb, stuck it in his mouth, and licked it clean. Then he plunged two fingers into her vagina and heard Kate cry out. He pulled them out and plunged them back in a few times before adding a third finger.

"OH GOD, OH GOD!" Kate lifted her ass off the bed to get closer to those fingers. Anything to get more friction and more pleasure.

Then Rick kept his fingers where they were and pushed his thumb into her ass. Kate screamed as she lifted her ass off the bed and used her hands to try and grab the bed she was on. However, it was too slippery to grab anything.

As she was calming down she felt him remove his fingers; she didn't want him to. She needed more. She needed him to do that again. But instead of using his fingers she looked down when something else was touching her. It was his tongue. "OH MY GOD!" In only a few licks he had shoved his finger inside her and Kate was screaming again.

Then suddenly he was gone. Kate closed her eyes and let her body calm down. That was three in a short period of time and she was ready for still more. Opening her eyes she found him looking down at her.

"Feeling better now?" Rick asked her and it was all Kate could do to whimper out an, "Uh-huh." Especially when she was more than better. She was great.

Then suddenly he was kissing her. She grabbed his head and kissed him back. She also tasted something new. She chased that taste with her tongue as she kissed him. These kisses were nothing like the kisses her previous master had done. She wanted this kiss and wanted to taste more. However, he stopped kissing her and was smiling down at her.

"Can we do that again?" Kate meant now, later, tomorrow, and the day after, maybe all night long tonight, and again the next night, then do it all over again.

"All you have to do is ask," Rick told her and she pulled his head down so she could kiss him again.

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**The M rated section is over. You are free to read again.**

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Rick was sitting in his chair. While Kate walked the ring touched her clitoris and it was suddenly a little uncomfortable. And it was also firing her up yet again.

Kate walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. Soon his hands were on hers so she moved them down to his chest so she could rub it with both hands. "What was that?" Kate was filled with questions.

Rick chuckled. "Well if you're referring to my lips on your pussy lips that's called oral sex. If you mean you screaming, that was an orgasm. You haven't done either of those until me, have you?" Rick was pretty sure the answer was no but one never knew.

Kate shook her head. "No. My previous master simply had me remove my clothes then…used me." Kate wanted to forget he had ever done that. "Does it get better?" It had just gotten a whole lot better so was there even better?

"I guess that depends on you. In any case not until we're sure you're healed completely after being tagged." Kate groaned. Rick tilted his head back to look at her. "We need to be sure you don't get an infection. We're nowhere near a hospital and my medical bed can only do just so much. I have no intention of ever hurting you, Kate." Rick looked down at his screens.

Kate stayed right where she was and even slipped a hand inside his shirt to touch skin.

Rick didn't see any ships on his scanner and knew if one did show up he would get a warning. "We'll arrive at the mine tomorrow. …Kate, you need to stop." He had an erection when he had left her and now he was getting an even bigger one. He'd seen her naked and yes, she needed to add some weight to her frame since he thought she was too skinny. He was betting that was because of her previous owner who was an idiot. Kate was worth keeping.

"Why?" Kate liked what she was doing.

Now it was Rick who felt his hot blood running through his body and most of it was going straight into his erection.

Rick left everything on, got out of his chair, took Kate's hand, and took her to his bed. It was time to find out if she hated cocks because she had been raped.

Kate watched him take off his shoes then begin to take off his pants. Just getting down here so fast had caused her tag to tap her clitoris several times and she was getting all fired up yet again.

Then Rick removed his pants and she could see his erection in his shorts. Now she was worried just what he had planned. She didn't want to be raped again. She thought Rick was different. She watched him take off his shorts and out sprang his cock; his didn't look like her old master's. It was different somehow. Then he lay down on his bed on his back.

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**This is another section that may be more M rated. I'm trying to give you a warning if this isn't what you want to read.**

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"Lick it, stroke it, take it in you mouth and make me climax."

Kate was at first a little conflicted. Cocks were used to rape with. Yet he was her master and she had to do what he asked of her. Yet raping her wasn't what he was asking for.

Kate got down on her knees, reached out to touch him, and listened to him moan just from her touch. In moments she had him in her mouth and while she couldn't take all of him since it caused her to choke she was doing the best she could. She was even enjoying listening to him moan and shift his body all over the bed.

"Kate!" She found his hand on her head to force it down farther but only for a moment just as she was about to choke on it again. Then she tasted something different but there wasn't much of it and she searched for more.

Then he screamed and suddenly her mouth was full of that taste. It was different. She wouldn't say she loved it, but it was new so she swallowed all of it.

He was getting soft even as she licked it and kept it in her mouth so she stopped and sat back on her legs. "Better?" Kate asked him since he had asked her.

Instead of answering her he used a finger to have her come closer so she bent down. He forced her head down to his and was kissing her. She eagerly kissed him back. When he broke from the kiss he was smiling. "I'm better than just better," Rick said which had Kate smiling.

This was all new and Kate was finding that she liked it. She liked having him for a master so very much. Her old master had never done anything like this before. Rick was amazing.

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**You are free to read again. My apologies if M rated material is not to your liking.**

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Kate woke up the next morning and found herself still naked and all curled up next to a naked Rick. She had started out in her own bed above him. However, she was tossing and turning yet again. But now she knew it was because her core between her legs was wet and she really needed something.

Then Rick had told her to come down here. She had obeyed instantly and soon found him doing to her what he had done earlier that day. His fingers then his lips had left her screaming a number of times.

It was only after that that she was able to get any sleep. What she didn't understand was why being here with him was so different. She loathed what her previous master had done. Rick was different. She couldn't wait to do it all over again.

Now she was awake and Rick was still asleep. He'd said that they could do that again and all she had to do was ask. So she whispered to him what she wanted and reached down to take him in her hand.

Soon she was laying the opposite direction; she had him in her mouth and was happy as he was getting harder the longer she worked at it. While this was nice it wasn't helping her any. She was wet and she was practically on fire. Then suddenly she knew Rick was awake and he was moving her. She moaned loudly when with her on top of him, she felt his fingers and his tongue right where she needed it.

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The shower was too small for two people so they had to take turns. Kate spent part of her turn cleaning her tag area just like she'd been told. While Rick had gotten her to scream three separate times just a moment ago, she found that cleaning herself had her wishing for more.

But now she knew she could help herself and shoved at first one finger deep inside herself. By the time she was screaming yet again she was using three fingers.

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Kate saw him sitting in his chair when she came out naked so she could get dressed. She remembered that they were going to arrive at the mine today and he had warned her she would need those big boots he had bought her. So she had on panties, blue jeans, a bra, the heaviest top she had, socks, and her boots and waited for Rick. Only to find that her tag was tapping her clitoris again.

By the time she reached Rick she was almost on fire again. She still didn't understand why life was so different now. They had just finished what Rick had called _Oral Sex_ and here she was ready for more already.

Kate put her hands on his shoulders. "Where are we?"

"Almost ready to exit FTL and work our way into the RIM. Have a seat and strap in." Kate sat down and while Rick hadn't said that word **please** she could hear it in her head. He was being so nice to her. She was learning that she liked him for an owner and didn't want to be owned by anyone else.


	6. Chapter 6

**Firefly**

_Chapter 6_

Kate watched as yet again the tunnel went away and was replaced with mostly blackness. However there was a fair amount of light for a change. "What's with all the light?" They were kind of close already and Kate strained a little to see three of them.

"Those are miniature suns. They're artificial." Rick began looking for the mining planet he needed to reach. "Remember to think three dimensionally." He showed her a ball using his hands. "There are a lot more than just three of them."

"Artificial suns?" Kate had never heard of such a thing.

"An artificial sun aims to release nuclear fusion like that of the sun by using deuterium and tritium, which widely exist in sea water. Unfortunately I'm not built to carry any of those or we might get rich keeping them going. Deuterium is a gas while tritium is a radioactive isotope. A low level beta emitter.

"During the war or actually just before, an Alliance scientist came up with the theory. Then we stole it and built them. Without them this entire area would be just dead space. I can only imagine what secret sites are hidden out here thanks to the war." This was all Brown territory.

"Looks like we're all alone. I'm not finding anyone. Guess we can go see if our miner has something for us." Rick changed course a little and headed for that planet.

"Rick, how do they live out here?" Kate didn't get it. To her way of thinking an artificial sun was just light, wasn't it? If it made gravity wouldn't everything go around them like everything went around a real sun?

"It's not easy or always safe. A number of places out here are under domes and everything gets shipped in. Just like that station we just left," Rick said. "You can grow things but it's limited there. Planets are better but only if the artificial atmosphere emitters hold. Homes are nothing but domes as a precaution."

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After going over what looked like a pair of domes, Kate watched him land close to a big pile of crates. Those same crates were in turn next to a really large rusty building that looked like crap to her. What she didn't see was a mine, but maybe it was on the other side of this huge pile of rust.

Rick shut everything down and released his harness, getting Kate to do what same thing. She followed him far more carefully than Rick was walking.

Then she watched him strap something around his waist; out of a wall came an object that went into a slot that he had tied to his thigh. "What's that?"

"This little thing?" Rick pulled it back out and spun it a few times before putting it back. "Protection, just in case. It's a long barrel model 85, modified. Go put on your coat, it looks cool outside." Rick got out his long leather coat, put it on, and buttoned just the two top buttons.

Kate came back just as she was zipping it closed. "How do we get out?" She had always used the airlock to get in and out, so what did they do now?

Instead of answering her he took her over to a portion of the floor and pressed a panel. Kate shrieked a bit just as the floor she was standing on began to go straight down.

"This is how we get the cargo on board, if he has any." Once Rick's head cleared he looked around. He had surely seen him coming then landing so he could be anywhere and he knew he would be armed.

He could be in that pile of rusted junk he called a mine, but if it was him he wouldn't be in there. Yes, it gave him a height advantage and he would want that badly and would use it. Though he couldn't risk having his precious mine damaged in a shoot out so he would be somewhere else.

Rick's first guess would be the crates. If they were full of ore for processing his rounds wouldn't be able to penetrate them making them a good place to hide behind.

"Okay, time for rule number 3. Don't freak out. It's highly likely that there's a gun pointed at both of us right now."

"SERIOUSLY!?" Kate yelled at him. "Don't freak out he says." Kate had been fine until he told her that. So yeah, now she was seriously freaked out.

"How about we talk about this, Frankie," Rick yelled. "Or do we have to go through that photo shoot all over again?"

Suddenly the floor between two crates erupted in dust. Up popped a man holding what Kate saw was a really big gun and it was pointed that both of them.

Kate was ready to pee herself. "Rick?" A slow turn to look at him while keeping an eye on the guy with the big gun, she saw Rick had his gun out and it was pointed at the guy with the big gun.

"Where's the wife, Frankie?" Rick knew he wasn't alone, or hadn't been alone the last time he was here.

Kate didn't understand when the guy Rick kept calling Frankie suddenly broke into laughter. "Captain Rodgers. I was all set to shoot holes in you."

"Now is that any way to treat a friend?" Rick holstered his weapon which had Kate ready to freak out even more.

"Come on out, baby. Rodgers is here." Frankie shouldered his weapon.

"A shotgun, Frankie? Really?"

"It's new. A charged shotgun."

Rick raised an eyebrow at that. Then he noticed Frankie's wife walk out onto the top of a crate and put both hand guns back in their holsters.

Kate only had eyes for Rick as she watched him walk up to Frankie. They shook hands then hugged each other.

"It's good to see you, Frankie." Rick was all smiles that he was still here.

"Rodgers!" Frankie stepped back to look him over. "Not so invisible this time."

Rick smiled since he had survived the war doing his best to be invisible. "Old times long gone."

"And who is this?" Frankie shifted his eyes to Kate who was just standing there, though freaking out had diminished a bit for her.

"This is Kate. Kate, meet Colonel Red "Frankie" Reacher, my commanding officer. Well my direct commanding officer, anyway." Rick grinned. "And this is his wife, Lieutenant Commander Reese." His wife had joined them and stood behind her husband.

"Leave it to you to find the most beautiful woman left in this quadrant." His wife didn't count since they were married and she was no longer available to anyone but him.

"Don't go getting any ideas, Frankie, she's with me and she's tagged." Rick wasn't interested in sharing with him or his wife.

"Duly noted." Frankie walked past him and headed over to Rick's ship. "Where did you get this thing? This is new." Frankie looked it over. "Railguns above and below, four thrusters and I'm guessing a cargo hold or you wouldn't be here. So what else?" He was curious.

"She's a modified Firefly. She has the twin railguns forward, twin swing out missile launchers aft and a P52 stored in the bottom and four thrusters. All four are capable of rotating up to 33 degrees." Rick was right to be proud of his ship.

"Well color me impressed!" Frankie almost couldn't believe it. "You've been busy."

"I try. So have you got some cargo that needs to get out of here?"

"Babe, you want to show Kate our home while Rodgers and I discuss business?" Frankie looked at his wife. "We may be a while."

"This way, Rodgers." Frankie walked him into the rusted out mess that was part of his mine.

"Come with me, honey. You can call me Liz." She took Kate toward one of the two domes.

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"So tell me how you two met," Liz said to Kate after getting her something to drink.

"My previous master hit me for breaking something and Rick found me. Took me to his ship. Bought me clothes and had me tagged so he could get me back if I got lost." Kate made it simple.

"That's not the whole story, though, is it? You've started to really like him." To Liz, Kate was glowing but there was something else. She looked uncomfortable.

"I'll take that blush as a yes. Rick's a good man but he's hurting." Liz knew something. "Tagged, huh? May I ask where he had you tagged?"

Kate was used to answering questions with the truth, however, she wasn't used to answering questions that didn't come from her master. Though she did look down.

"I see." To Liz that certainly explained why she was glowing and looked uncomfortable. She was betting with just a bit more stimulation she might have an orgasm right in front of her.

"I'm going to tell you something and you need to keep this to yourself. Rick obviously likes you but there's something you should know." Liz wasn't sure just where to start.

"Rick was a sniper during the war. The best. The very best you, I, or anyone is ever going to see. The war had been going for over a year. Then out of the blue the Alliance said they wanted to talk. Put an end to the war. They weren't offering anything, only that they were willing to talk." Liz and almost everyone else who was on the Brown's side still didn't know just what.

"Red's commanding officer gave him an order. Said it came from…, well, it doesn't matter who it came from. He ordered Red to arrange for the Alliance representative to be killed. Red selected Rick to do the job. He was the best.

"It was an impossible shot. Almost 3 kilometers. Between buildings, without being spotted by Alliance surveillance, and still escape to keep fighting. But he did it. No one knows how but he did it. The Alliance Admiral was even wearing body armor so all he had was a head shot. But he did it and got away.

"It was Admiral Kona himself that was willing to talk. None of us found that out until long after it was over." Liz sighed since what came after what was utter devastation.

"It's believed that the war could have been over, but we killed him. Rick killed him. The Alliance erupted like a volcano. They stopped bothering to take prisoners. Instead they killed everyone. Whole towns. Men, women, and children." Liz paused and saw the tears forming in Kate's eyes.

"Then they caught us. The battle of Market Hill." Liz huffed out a laugh. "The slaughter of Market Hill, more like it. Not just the hill that killed thousands of us but the little villages around us. I'm betting the entire area still can't support life. Any life." Liz paused again and watched Kate wipe away tears. It told her that Kate cared a lot. Maybe enough to actually love him.

"Then Rick found out who he'd killed and knew what happened after that. Then he went mad. It's the best way to describe it. He hunted down the two admirals that had ordered that Admiral Kona be killed. He killed two of his own. Then none of us ever saw him again.

"Suddenly he showed up here in this little cargo ship working for a shipping company. He was a shadow of his former self. He was a ghost, really. It wasn't even his fault." Liz was done explaining.

Liz eyed her. "What has he told you?"

"He was in the war. That he killed someone and that tens of thousands of people were dead because of him." Kate felt her heart ripping open for him. She didn't know Rick meant this much to her so fast.

"He would. If, and that's a really big if, if he hadn't killed Admiral Kona the war might have ended right then, but it didn't." Liz wasn't even sure just how many died after that, just that it was a lot.

"Rick said it was orders. That he was just following orders." Kate knew all about orders. Her life was all about taking orders and doing what she had been told.

"Yeah, orders. Except then he hunted down and killed two of his own. The ones he had decided had issued those orders. Now he's hunted by not just the Alliance but anyone who's a Brown and figures out who he is." Except for a few that knew everything, Rick was a hunted man, those that knew anything about him, that was.

Liz watched as Kate wiped away new tears and shook her head.

"You like him, don't you? I get that he found you and that you're a slave. His slave, though I'm betting he isn't treating you like one, does he?"

Kate shook her head. He was the nicest man she had ever met.

"Then do him a favor. Give him a reason to live," Liz urged. "Use your imagination. He isn't the type to just kill himself. He might however decide to do something impossible that will get himself killed. You're just a slave so maybe he might think one more death won't mean anything. He's already going to go to hell and suffer for what he has done or thinks he has done, forever."

Kate nodded. She would think of something.

"Good. Come on and help me with dinner while those two decide how much we have, how much Rick can hold, and what my husband is willing to pay him." Liz took her to the kitchen.

Liz quickly learned that Kate didn't cook and never has cooked so she began teaching her.

"Can I ask a question?" Kate asked and bit her lower lip. She'd done it again.

"Of course, what would you like to know?" Liz would answer if she could.

"Why do you live way out here and what are all those things in the ground?" Kate had seen a few of these devices sticking up out of the ground. They looked about maybe 8 feet tall and had this really tall rod sticking high up out of them.

"Some are moisture farms and others are atmospheric devices. It's kinda dry here and we need all the water we can suck out of the atmosphere. As to why here?" That question was an easy one even if it might not mean anything to Kate.

"This is about as far away from the Alliance anyone can get and not end up in the middle of nowhere. Way out there where almost no one knows what's out there except maybe for a select few of us Browns. A place where the Alliance doesn't go. Too scary," Liz said.

"You hate them. The Alliance," Kate meant.

"With every fiber of my body. The Alliance used us. Use planets and the people on them. They always have and likely always will." Liz knew she needed to explain so she stopped what she was doing.

"The war was about independence. To be able to go where we wanted without Alliance interference. Without being used. Rick treats you great, doesn't he?" Liz asked her straight out and Kate nodded. "I'm betting your previous master didn't." Kate shook her head.

"Well the Alliance is like your previous master. They treat everyone that's outside of the core planets like shit. Something to be used up and thrown away. Without care one about what they're doing to people. To their lives. You're a tagged slave. To the Alliance everyone outside of the core planets is an untagged slave. To be used up and thrown away and we lost." Liz went back to what she was doing; she put it in the oven, turned it on, and set the timer.

"Rick tagged you to save you. To him you're not a slave. He's a Brown and we know full well what being a slave is. What it does to people's lives. Just how many choices we all have. So long as he lives, so do you," Liz said. "You somehow get separated from him and he might just manage to get you back. To make sure you never are a slave again. Not to him and certainly not to anyone else, especially the Alliance."

_So he doesn't want me as a slave. Th__e__n what does he want me as? Or is it just the sex? _Kate questioned herself. She certainly did love the sex and she was even presently ready for more already.

"Is there such a thing as a sex slave?" Kate asked her since she was getting a lot of answers from her.

"Like prostitutes?" Liz's eyebrows went up. "Those have been around since the beginning of man and always will be. They're paid to have sex, though. Real sex slaves? They've existed and probably still do even today. A few might even be what is called a _whore. _Someone, usually a woman, is willing or forced to have sex with everyone and anyone their master tells them to. Those, however, are extremely rare.

"If you're thinking Rick might be one, remember who he is. Why he fought for the Browns. What did he think of your previous master?"

Kate made a face. "That he was an idiot for not tagging me so he could get me back."

"The chances that Rick wants to be a sex slave owner and turn you into a whore isn't happening. He hates people being slaves as much as anyone I know. Now does he want a lover? Some he can love and be loved back? Who doesn't. Just how is Rick going to go about that?" Liz shrugged. "I have no idea. Men are usually fairly easy to figure out. It takes a pretty rare one to be difficult to read.

"Women on the other hand are far more devious. Men think with their dicks and use their muscles to do all their talking with. Usually. Women like to play games with your head. Men get mad, women get even.

"Men like guns and women like more subtle means. Save for me. I happen to love guns and know how to use more than you've probably ever even heard of. I also happen to be very good with them just like my husband.

"No, I'm betting that Rick could be putty in your hands if you worked at it. You just have to give him a reason to live. He might already be searching for it for all I know.

"We should go find our men. Dinner will be ready soon and since they're men they're probably already dirty from doing something." Liz laughed at herself and her husband.


	7. Chapter 7

**Firefly**

_Chapter 7_

"So Kate, huh?" Frankie was really interested in hearing this.

"It's not what you think," Rick answered quickly.

"Then you're not walking around with a slave that you've tagged?" Or had he somehow misjudged the situation?

"Okay, it is what you think, but she's not my slave," Rick argued.

"You tagged her, explain that one. You hate slaves as much as any Brown I know or have you changed that much?" Maybe that one shot he had taken really had been too much for him. He would never believe it but he'd been wrong before and as his wife would be only too willing to point out, he would be wrong again.

"I tagged her so I wouldn't lose her like her previous master lost her," Rick insisted.

"What are you doing, Rick? She's more slave than any of us ever were." Frankie wasn't getting it.

"I've been pumping her full of flibanserin."

That had Frankie thinking. "Sex drug. If memory serves it's supposed to flood her system with dopamine and serotonin. Increase motivation, appetite, and desire in women. Experimental, last I knew. Though I've been out of the loop for a while now. What do you need that stuff for? Is something wrong with her?" It was the only reason he could come up with.

"Really, Frankie?" Rick almost shouted. "Look at me. Strike that, don't look at me. Maybe I should have your wife look at me. No, strike that, too. I need an impartial woman to look at me. What do you think she sees?"

There was nothing wrong with Rick. Frankie saw a tall guy who maybe had a couple of extra pounds added to his frame since the war but that was all. "Sounds like you're going to have to explain it to me since I don't get it."

"I've got ghosts all over me, Frankie. Thousands of them. No woman worth her salt is going to want to have anything to do with me once she learns that. Most women can almost read your mind. I wouldn't put it past them to actually be able to see them. Kate doesn't, at least not yet."

"Christ, Rick, are we still on that? Okay, so the brass wanted him dead and I passed on that order to you. You were the best so I knew it would work. If it wasn't you they would've thought up something else. There was no way the war was going to end then. Thousands would have just kept on fighting even if they'd been ordered to stop. You know that. People didn't just not like the Alliance, they hated them. Hell, there are more than a few out there still that hate them just as much now as they did then.

"How many people does it take to get it through that thick head of yours? Those people are not dead because of you. And what does any of this have to do with pumping Kate full of a sex drug?" Frankie was still working on that one.

"I've been alone since that one day. Just me. Then I saw her whimpering on the floor surrounded by a broken something so I put 2 + 2 together and came up with slave. When I scanned her, she came up clean so I grabbed her, and took her to my ship. Yes, I tagged her. I tagged her to keep her from being someone's slave. Anyone's slave, including me. I fought the Alliance to prevent people from being slaves. Didn't work but I at least tried.

"Now look at us. We lost and planets are more slaves than they've ever been even before the start of the war. The only place to be free is way the hell out here," Rick argued.

"I know all that. Sex drug?" Frankie led him back to the topic.

"She's tall, she gorgeous, she's smart even without a lot of education, I'm guessing. Where else am I going to find a woman like that? You got lucky; I don't have your kind of luck." Rick's face flushed.

"Sex drug?" Frankie didn't hear a why in any of that.

Rick hung his head. "I didn't want to lose her so I took a risk." He knew it was bad of him but he was desperate.

"Okay, let's cut through the bullshit. What's the real reason and if you say anything about you being ugly I'm gonna shoot you. And this baby can easily blow a leg off in one shot. So let's hear it." Frankie still hadn't heard a reason why.

"You remember the last time I was here with that little cargo ship that even the pirates wouldn't attack because there was nothing on it?" Rick began.

"Like it was yesterday. You actually didn't look so bad then. You had a job and it didn't involve you touching a sniper rifle. You almost sounded happy." Frankie saw the look on his face. "What did you do?" He was thinking started a fight with his boss. Stole the cargo and sold it. No, that didn't work; he got paid for that load. Stole the cargo ship maybe and sold it.

"I tried to kill myself." Rick wasn't proud of himself. But his demons had gotten to him and it was the easiest way out.

"Jeez, Rick. For the last goddamn time, it wasn't your fucking fault." Frankie spun in place since he couldn't believe this. But that wasn't an answer.

"Sex drug?" Frankie was back to that.

"I got lucky and ran across this Firefly, then the P52, then the missiles that came with it."

"I'll grant you that's a really nice ship. You can do a lot with that baby." Frankie was impressed.

"Sex drug?" Frankie asked again.

"I had just loaded it up with food and I was going to fly it way out here somewhere, anywhere and just disappear."

"Try and kill yourself again." Frankie saw him nod. "What am I going to do with you? …Sex drug?" Frankie was just about ready to kill him himself.

"Then I found Kate and a new plan just hit me. If I pumped her full of flibanserin I could get her hooked on sex. Then when she figured out the truth it would be too late," Rick finally admitted. "She would already be in love with me since I wasn't going to treat her like a slave. I might even marry her."

"You… I was right the first time. I _am_ gonna to shoot you. That's the most stupidest fucking plan I've ever heard. Force her to love you so that you don't kill yourself because you can't get past killing one Alliance admiral who deserved to be killed. What am I going to do with you, Rick?" Frankie just didn't know what to do for him.

"So does your sex drug work?" Maybe it wasn't a total loss if his insanely stupid plan worked.

"Amazingly, yes," Rick said. "I'm betting that right this moment she's standing or sitting with your wife and is about ready to explode in a mind bending orgasm."

"I'd ask if you had any extra but I happen to like living and keeping my dick instead of having her cut it off. So what's your plan when she finds out she's been used? When she erupts like a volcano and finds the weapon you're currently wearing?" Had he thought of that? Or was he really that far gone?

Since Rick remained silent Frankie was betting the answer was no.

"I'd say you need some serious therapy but I'm sure you already know that and if you don't you're beyond help." Frankie just wasn't sure what to do. It was too late to stop the drug since he had talked about pumping her full of the stuff.

Though if somehow Kate gave him a reason to live maybe something good could come out of this fucked up mess. As if by magic he saw his wife and Kate headed his way.

"Okay Rick, here comes your chance to come clean. Or you'll get to stay here on this planet. …In a body bag six feet in the ground." Frankie poked him in the chest.

"Hi babe, dinner will be ready in a few," Liz told her husband.

"Well dinner's gonna to be late. These two have something they need to talk about," Frankie informed his wife who had a blank look on her face.

"Tell her or I will," Frankie warned Rick. He took his wife's hand and walked away.

"What are we doing?" Liz didn't understand. She'd learned a few things from Kate but wasn't sure they needed to talk right now.

Frankie took a deep breath. "Rick's gotten stupid on us. He tried to kill himself after he left us last time."

"OH, GOD! I'd kill that damn admiral myself if he wasn't already dead." Liz had known he was hurting but didn't know it was that bad.

"It gets worse. Rick has a plan to keep himself from trying to kill himself yet again. It involves him pumping Kate full of flibanserin." Frankie scrubbed his hands over his face. "She's probably one touch from an orgasm right now."

"Flibanserin? Where have I heard that name before?" It was on the tip of her mind.

"It's a sex drug meant to work on women. Pump her full of the stuff and she's a walking orgasm. He thinks that if he can get Kate to fall in love with him he'll have a reason to try and not kill himself again." Frankie huffed a worried sigh for his friend.

"**IS HE OUT OF HIS FUCKING MIND?!**"Liz stopped to turn around and look at those two who appeared to be talking.

"Rick sees all the people that died after he killed that admiral as being on his conscience. They haunt his soul. He really is broken, Liz. Seriously broken." Frankie joined his wife to watch both of them.

"What are you thinking?" His wife was being too silent.

"I think it just might work," Liz told him.

"Come again?" He would have bet she would blow up and at the very least thumped him a good one. And if she could get her hands on his weapon that she just might shoot him. Frankie was betting Rick would just let her.

"I think she already loves him," Liz insisted.

"What are you talking about?" Frankie didn't see it.

"We had our own little girl talk. Her previous master beat her, did nothing for her. Rick bought her clothes. That's where the coat and those boots came from not to mention what's under that coat. He tagged her so he could keep her. She's figured that part out pretty well.

"She may not know that she loves him but she does. He might just be the man she needs. She is certainly the woman he needs. Maybe he can give her a reason not to think of herself as being a slave. She just might give him a reason to live. Maybe even given him a reason to let go of his demons that haunt him," Liz explained.

Frankie pointed out a flaw in his plan. "He's still forcing sex on her."

"True, but right now she still sees herself as a slave. Meaning she has to allow him to do anything he wants. Maybe later when she has more ground under her and loves him, she may break his leg or something. But for right now, she'll let him live.

"And If I find any of that shit…" Her husband held up his hands in surrender and backed up a step. Liz smiled. She'd trained him well. Now Kate just needed to be more sure about herself and not see herself as a slave. When she did she could begin training Rick.

"Well at least she isn't yelling at him," Frankie commented as they still observed both of them.

Then suddenly they were kissing. That had both of them raising an eyebrow. "Dinner!" Liz ran for the dome to rescue what was left of their dinner.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

All four of them were loading Rick's cargo hold with all it could hold since Frankie had a whole lot. "Just be careful, my friend," Frankie said. "I think word's out that there are pirates in this area. It's why I have so much."

"I've got a few surprises for them." Rick smiled an evil grin.

"Now there's the Rick I remember: dedicated and sure of himself. Come back when you can, I've got enough for another load for you. Then we can talk about who else out here could use your help. It's been really good to see you, Rick. Just try and get it though that thick skull of yours. You didn't get them killed. For all we know it was a trap and even more of us would have been killed. It was the Alliance and it was Admiral Kona." There was no more hated man in the Alliance than Admiral Kona and they both knew it.

"No promises." Rick shook his hand and hugged him.

"So how are you and Rick?" Liz was curious as she was talking with Kate before they left.

"We're good. He told me about the drug he put inside me. It does explain a lot of things." She had never been this hot and on fire in her life. Even now she needed him to give her another orgasm, or two, or three, or more.

"He was afraid. As strong as he may look on the outside he really is scared on the inside. Now that you know what he's done he'll add being afraid that you'll reject him to that list," Liz cautioned her.

"I want to help him. I do. He's been kinder to me than anyone and I'm pretty sure I started all the sex," Kate commented.

"Because of all that drug he's pumped into you. Good luck, honey, and I hope to see you again soon." Liz was hoping her husband had invited him back for another load. They had a lot to sell and could use the money.

Liz hugged her and was hugged in return. Kate walked away and then stopped before walking again. Liz grinned and shook her head, amused. That tag location was going to have her all worked up almost constantly and add that drug to that and she was a walking sex goddess.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

They were watching the Firefly flying away with a full cargo hold. It was a lot of money and a lot of hard work in that hold.

"Did you invite them back?" Liz asked her husband.

"I did. If they make it past the pirates and they should with that ship, they'll be back. Might be a few weeks but they'll be back." Frankie was betting on it.

"How's Kate?" Rick left her walking so it must not be that bad.

"I'm pretty sure she already loves him. Just like he wanted his insanely stupid plan to happen. Pretty sure he already loves her, too. Now they just need to find the strength to tell the other," Liz commented.

"Think we'll get wedding invitations?" Frankie queried and watched them disappear from sight.

"We do and I'm going to need a new dress," Liz warned him.

"Rick makes it with both loads and we'll have the money for that dress and then some." Frankie kissed her cheek.

"Come on, babe. All this talk of sex has made me horny." Liz took his hand and led him to their bedroom.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick had already powered up both of the twin railguns. He'd also swung out all four missile wings and had activated the targeting systems. "Now comes the question, do we get out of here without a problem?" Rick tried to keep one eye on where he was going and his scanner that would show him any pirates in the area.

"Can you do me a favor if you think that you're up to it?" Rick asked Kate.

"If I can." Kate would help but she just didn't know how.

"Right now I want you to watch this screen." Rick twisted as much as his restraints would allow him and made sure one of Kate's screens was the scanner. "If you see so much as any red dot let me know. Red is bad and that means pirates."

"Got it." She could watch for red dots.

The belt could be a difficult place to be. Not all of the planets were big and there was the occasional asteroid. He couldn't go into FTL until he was clear of all obstacles. If he didn't he would surge forward right into one of them, rip his ship open, and kill both of them.

They hadn't gotten very far. "I've got one red dot. It just suddenly showed up," Kate said.

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. They saw us come in and sent out a lone fighter to sit there and watch and wait for us to come out. If there's one there'll be more," Rick warned her. He wasn't too worried about one little fighter though if it got a lucky hit that would be a problem. A quick look told him that it was out of range anyway.

Rick was about halfway out. "Five more red dots!" Kate yelled because she was excited. But not a good kind of excited.

"I thought as much. Let's see if they're expecting us." Rick had a couple of surprises for them.

Rick watched as two went to join the single while the other three tried to work at coming right up behind him. The engines of an ordinary cargo ship were its most vulnerable spot. Take out the engines and they would just sit there. Then in comes a bigger ship to dock and board the ship and take its cargo as well as perhaps take the ship itself.

They were close in fighters like his lone fighter. However, his twin railguns were bigger than theirs. "Let's see how they handle a surprise." Rick grinned a little.

He rotated his engines a little. It meant he didn't change course and just kept going straight. Though it meant his ship was now almost at broadsides to those three. It also meant both of his twin railguns could find targets.

Rick took the farthest one out so that if the other two broke off they would break farther into his firing arc. "Firing." Rick pressed a panel for a round of three out of each barrel and returned to watching where he was going.

"One red dot is gone!" Kate was smiling wider now.

That had Rick looking and the other two didn't break away. That was the thing about fighting in the blackness of space. If he didn't use a tracer round no one saw his railgun rounds. Rick lined up on the one next to him. He gave him three rounds from each barrel and went back to watching where his foe was going.

"One more red dot's gone!" Kate crowed enthusiastically.

Rick watched as the last of that three broke hard into his firing arc and sent three from each barrel toward his as well.

He either missed or did minor damage. His scanner showed him that he was running away back the way he had come. The other three, though, were still coming. Except they were all at a higher Z-axis than he was so that meant only one of his railguns could track them.

He wasn't really interested in killing them. Partly because he was betting they were ex-Browns and he hated the idea of killing his own. While he didn't have a lock he fired three of his missiles in their direction and watched them scatter. He didn't kill any of them but he also watched as they left the area. He was betting they were expecting an ordinary cargo ship, not someone who could fight back and kill them.

"Ready for FTL?" Rick asked her.

"No more red dots." Kate was still watching and soon saw the now familiar tunnel in front of her.

They were now out of any pirate's range and couldn't be followed. Though they likely knew where they were going but that would be suicide for pirates.


	8. Chapter 8

**Firefly**

_Chapter 8_

It had been three long days to reach the processing plant on a fringe planet. Kate had chosen to stay on the ship while Rick watched them unload all the cargo then get paid for delivering it to them for processing.

It might seem strange way of payment. The miner would pay to have his cargo shipped out. The processor needed just that to keep them in business. So they paid an independent cargo hauler a certain amount based on just what it was and how much they had. They in turn processed the ore to a finer product. They then sold it to other planets. Based on what they sold it for told them how much to pay the miner for his product.

All of this payment was done usually by direct transfer of money to various accounts. Even the payment to Rick was done the same way.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

That three day trip had been full of sex for both of them. Actually Kate, thanks to the drug, had had more orgasms in the last three days than she had had all her life until then.

She watched Rick come back in and he was smiling. She'd noticed that he was smiling more often of late.

The drug didn't really bother her all that much. She was a slave so even if he had told her what the drug was going to do to her she still would have allowed him to pump her full of it.

What she had to admit was that she was happy. Okay, the drug made her crave sex a lot. A whole lot but as far as she was concerned Rick was good at meeting her sexual needs.

Right now she was wondering why he was smiling wide.

"Hop in the shower and put on one of your dresses. There's a local dance club and I bought us two tickets. I'll let you have the shower first."

"I've never been dancing." Kate didn't know how to dance.

"I haven't done any dancing since I was just a kid so we're both going to learn. So up, shower, and find the dress you like best and don't forget to wear those heels." Rick was going to love to see just how tall she was wearing those heels.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate was wearing her pantsuit and heels and was presently biting her lower lip to keep from having an orgasm just as they reached where the dance was taking place.

She watched as he handed over his two tickets. They walked inside and saw dressed up people all over the place. "None of them are wearing what you're wearing." What Rick was wearing was different from all the men in here.

"It's not my fault they don't have any sense of style," Rick argued.

Rick took them toward an empty table. "Rick!?" Her tag and his drug were driving her mad. She had to have an orgasm and she had to have one right now.

Rick had gotten used to that look on her face. She was about to explode. "The ladies room is over there. I'll be right here when you get out." He watched her make her way to the restroom and go inside.

Kate managed to get her pants down and sit down and one touch later she bit her lip and moaned through her first of two orgasms. The second one came just as quickly. Kate cleaned herself up and put herself back together. She washed her hands and went back out to Rick who took off his jacket, left it on his chair, and took her out onto the dance floor.

It was a slow dance and it allowed Kate to just hold onto him and shuffle her feet around which was about all Rick knew how to do. "Better?" Rick asked her.

"Yes, for now. I'm going to need you when we get back to the ship though." Her fingers were never enough. She needed him to be totally satisfied.

"Your wish is my command." Rick held her tight.

"This is actually nice," Kate sighed. She got to be enveloped in his arms and her little movements weren't causing her tag to tap her clitoris. So it was just her and Rick.

"Everyone's staring," Kate commented quietly. She was sure it was because of the tattoos on her hands that showed that she was a slave. That a slave was in the arms of her master all dressed up and out on the dance floor.

"Ignore them. You're right where I want you to be so you're doing exactly as you're told." Rick looked at the one tattoo he could see and wondered what it would take to get rid of them.

Kate chose to hide her face in his shoulder, since thanks to her heels she was taller now, so that she didn't see all those eyes watching her.

They stayed out there for four songs until one got faster and it meant both of them would have to reveal they had no dancing skills at all. However, now that they were seated they could order drinks and food.

The table was tiny and their chairs were uncomfortable but that didn't stop Rick from reaching out to take both of Kate's hands in his and use his thumbs to rub the tattoos on the back of her hands. Given the location and that Kate was sure all eyes were on her since she didn't belong there she tried to take her hands back but Rick kept hold of them. She wanted him to stop but it wasn't her place to ask him to stop so she sat there and suffered.

"You really don't like it here." Rick could feel her trying to take her hands back yet again.

"I don't belong here." Kate looked around again and was convinced all eyes were on her.

Rick opened his mouth to say something to calm her fears but didn't really know what to say so he closed it. He was doing his best but he sucked at social gatherings and he knew it. He sucked even more at getting women to feel comfortable around him.

"Let's go." He didn't know what to do and Kate was clearly uncomfortable so he got up and he and Kate walked out.

Finally they were out of that room. "I'm sorry." Kate hung her head. She was a slave and yet Rick wasn't treating her like one and that only made her even more uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry." This time she meant she was sorry for saying that she was sorry and yet she had said it again. But instead of being angry at her and beating her he pulled her into him so he could hold her tight.

"If I knew of a way to get those tattoos off your hands I would," Rick told her.

Kate raised her head off his shoulder so she could look at him in shock. "What?"

"Yes, you're a slave and these hands tell everyone that you are." Rick took her hands in his again. "But you're not my slave. The Browns fought the war to prevent the Alliance from making slaves out of all of us. There isn't a Brown alive that fought in that war that doesn't hate slavery. So yes, if I could find a way I would remove them," Rick told her again and saw her look at him in shock.

Kate didn't understand him. She knew her place yet he was determined not to treat her like the slave she knew she was. She willed that he would kiss her at that moment. But he didn't; he just kept looking at her.

"Can we go home now?" Once they were home maybe they could have more sex. She knew by the time she walked back to the ship she was going to want him badly.

"Sure." Rick knew he'd tried and as he'd feared it had turned into a disaster. However, all the way back to the ship Kate had hold of him and was leaning into him.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick was slower at getting his suit off than Kate was her pantsuit and when he came back out of the bathroom to put it all away he found her standing there naked, waiting for him. Then she held out her arms to him. It was all he needed and neither of them stopped until they were too tired to make love one more time.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Where are we going now?" Kate was dressed and just starting to sit in her chair next to Rick.

"Back to the mine. Frankie said he had more than one load we could have and since that means more money for us, that's where we are going." Rick got them far enough away and entered FTL.

"Good, I like Liz." Liz didn't talk to her like she was a slave, either. She was learning to like being treated like that.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Their first day in FTL to get back to the mine was spent on the sofa listening to Rick's favorite songwriter. However, Kate had learned that she could start something and Rick didn't yell at her or beat her so she had her hand on him and was rubbing on the outside of his pants.

She was soon rewarded with sex on the sofa.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Are you adapting to your tag?" Rick was curious and he put a finger on it since they were both still naked. Then Rick noticed that she sucked in a breath when he touched her clit at the same time.

"Maybe a little." She had learned that after they had sex if she started walking too soon it actually hurt since her clitoris was too sensitive. But that didn't last long and soon the touch of her tag caused her to be wet and wanting sex yet again.

What she wanted to do was ask why he had her had her tagged there. Except she was a slave no matter how badly that she wished she wasn't so it wasn't her place to ask.

Though she did have a question. "Rick, can I stay naked all the time when we're alone on the ship?" Getting all those clothes off so that they could have sex was a pain and she seemingly needed sex all the time.

"If you wish." Rick wasn't quite sure how he was going to last seeing her naked all the time. She still needed to add a few pounds and some of those pounds needed to go to her breasts, but she was incredibly beautiful in his eyes.

His answer had Kate kissing him and feeling her move his hand to her core. She was ready for another round of sex even now.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Better go get dressed. We'll be landing shortly," Rick said since Kate was sitting in her chair on the bridge still naked. He heard her groan and it drew a smile from him. She got up and retreated to where her clothes were stored.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick was dressed just like last time as was Kate. But when no one was there to greet them Rick pulled out his weapon and looked around. It looked the same as last time, though.

"Frankie!?" Rick yelled and was rewarded with seeing Liz step out from behind a crate way at the top. He began breathing again and put his weapon away.

"Why the greeting?" Rick queried once Liz was down on the ground level.

"Red's in the separation part of the plant," Liz explained. "I needed to make sure that it was still you. For all I know the pirates managed to find a way to board you and come here to take it all. Did you have any trouble last time? We know you made it when our bank account grew."

Rick shrugged modestly. "We had six fighters to deal with. I got a few of them and the others ran away."

"Well, Red's that way. I'll take Kate with me." Liz happily took Kate's arm and walked toward one of their two domes.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"So how have you been while you've been gone?" Liz wanted to hear everything.

"Okay," Kate replied.

Liz guessed that it was going to be like this this time. "So what has happened that's new in your life?"

"Rick took me dancing when I don't know how to dance."

"That sounds nice. My husband hasn't taken me dancing in years. Granted we haven't left here in years so I guess he has an excuse. So did you like it?" Liz kept digging.

"I liked part of it. It was just that everyone knew I was a slave and kept looking at me." Kate hadn't liked that part.

"That's good!" Liz liked to hear that and saw the shock on Kate's face. "It tells me that Rick's reaching you. He doesn't treat you like a slave and you're starting to wish that you weren't. That you could do what other woman who aren't slaves can do, like me for example." Liz was happy for her.

"How is that good? I'm forever going to be a slave. I can't get rid of these." Kate held out her hands to show her the tattoos that were on them that told everyone she was a slave.

"In public for now, yes. But you need to learn that Rick doesn't see you that way so don't act like one when it's just you two. He doesn't see those tattoos. Anyone that was a Brown and fought in the war isn't going to see them, either."

Kate stayed silent while she thought about that.

"How's that drug treating you?" Liz kept questioning her.

Finally Kate smiled. "I want sex constantly. I can't stop. I want Rick constantly. My previous master raped me, but I want Rick and he doesn't rape me. He…He's different."

"Sounds to me like you're falling in love." Liz loved the thought of it. They both really needed the other.

"WHAT! No, I can't. I'm a slave." Kate knew she didn't have a future. She was a slave and was always going to be a slave.

Liz knelt in front of her and took her hands in hers. "Will you stop, please? You are not a slave. Not to me, not to my husband, and most importantly not to Rick. Your heart knows what it wants. Tell it that you're a slave all you want, but you're going to fall in love. You just have to let it and revel in the feeling that that gives you."

"Rick said if he could make my tattoos go away he would." Kate blushed.

"Sounds like Rick's falling in love with you as much as you are with him and that's good. Just go with it, honey. Love will change your life for the better. You'll see. …Now up, you can help me cook again." Liz pulled Kate up with her.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Rodgers, you took your time coming back." Frankie had been expecting him for days but had finally given up waiting and had gotten back to work.

"I tried a little down time. It didn't work out so well." Rick knew he would fail.

"Which was?" Frankie pressed him to find out what.

"I tried taking her dancing even though I can't dance. The first songs were nice and slow so it was easy. But Kate started to panic. She was positive that everyone was watching her because she was a slave. The longer we stayed the worse it got, so we left," Rick admitted.

"I have to say that when you do things you do them big. Next time try something more simple. Take her out for a drink and get her to play a game. Take her to a place where slaves are expected to be seen. If she sees one then she'll be more comfortable," Frankie said. "You really need to start small, Rick. Come on, time for a drink and something to eat. Then we can load you up and you can go try again. Baby steps, Rick, baby steps."

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate and Liz were watching Rick and Frankie load the ship with cargo all over again.

"Try not to be afraid, Kate, and at the same time try to be careful where you go. There are far too many Browns out there that hate anything to do with slaves. Being one, seeing one, helping one. If you don't have any try to talk Rick into taking you shopping. This time you're looking for gloves. All kinds of gloves. Anything that will cover the tattoos on your hands," Liz suggested.

Frankie looked at Rick. "So what are your plans for after this? This is the last I have."

"I was thinking of trying to find someone just like you. Stay out here in the Rim. I'm thinking finding another Brown is a lot safer than getting closer to the core. Even if getting closer to the core might pay better," Rick said.

"Might be safer but you're also right about the pay. Just keep this in mind: a lot of Browns don't like slaves. You may not think of her as being a slave, but they will. Be sure and keep your eyes open. A few are going to be jealous of this ship of yours and might not be bashful in trying to take it from you," Frankie advised him.

"Thanks for the help, Frankie, I appreciate it," Rick said with a nod.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate was sitting on a crate and waved at Liz for all the advice she had offered and being nice to her like Rick was nice to her.

"Come back when you get a chance, Rick, and please for the love of God listen to me. You did _not_ get them killed. Admiral Kona was the biggest piece of shit you were ever going to find. You can take it to the bank that he had a plan and it didn't have anything to do with peace. Unless you want to talk about pieces and his idea of peace," Frankie offered.

"I'll try but no promises." Rick shook his hand then hugged him and slapped his back like Frankie was doing to his.

Rick joined Kate and up they went into the ship.

Frankie joined his wife. "Think we'll see them again?" Liz questioned him since she had her own theory.

"Depends, I suppose, but no. Not after this and not because they're dead. The Belt is vast, a little too vast to see him again." Frankie wrapped an arm around her and watched them lift off and head for space.

"Pity, I was looking forward to buying a new dress." Liz smiled since she was joking.

"We'll know if he makes it or not. He does and we can go shopping for that dress if you still want it." Frankie kissed her cheek.

"My kingdom for something that will cover her tattoos so that Kate comes out of her shell. She's so convinced there's nothing in this life for her. That being a slave is all that she will ever be." Liz felt for her.

"Then maybe Rick's incredibly stupid idea about that drug will actually work," Frankie mused. "And no, I didn't ask him for any of it."

"Smart man, maybe I'll actually keep you." Liz grinned at him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Firefly**

_Chapter 9_

"Why are we here?" The planet that had a processing plant for the cargo they had just sold and got paid for to deliver it had a clothing store.

"Gloves." Kate had never even thought of it before until Liz had brought it up. However, if gloves were all it took for her to be more comfortable with being a slave in places she had no business being, it certainly sounded simple to her.

"Gloves." Rick was having trouble keeping up but he followed her to the women's section and watched her look over every type of gloves. "Work gloves?" He really didn't expect her to do any work that would require them but her delicate hands could use a pair. Kate, though, wasn't paying any attention to him.

Then he watched her slip on a pair of gloves that almost reached her elbow. Kate thought they actually didn't feel so bad so she took them off, handed them to Rick, and kept looking. Rick looked at the really long black gloves and didn't get it. "Why these?" They didn't look very functional to him.

"To cover my tattoos," Kate replied but that was the only pair she could find that she liked. There were a few others but nothing really caught her attention.

"Cover your tattoos." Rick was catching on. "In that case follow me." He walked to a totally different store.

"Rick, this is a jewelry store." Kate liked it but she wasn't much into wearing jewelry.

"Yeah, here try this one." Rick handed it to her and has to help her. "You put your middle finger through this part. This part goes over the top of your hand and this goes around your wrist." Rick put it on for her.

Kate looked at it. It was a little loose and when it moved part of her tattoo became uncovered. But it worked, so now she liked jewelry.

"Is there another one?" Kate had one on each hand and this one was all gold plated and the center over her hand had this little pearl in the center.

"Not like that, I don't think." Rick looked around. "What about these two? They look like they're both sewn instead of gold jewelry." Rick handed her those two. "Maybe gold on one hand and glove on the other." Rick didn't know, he was a guy.

"There look to be a couple more singles but none look like twins." Rick didn't see much else.

Kate had all three and her gloves. "Can I have all of them?" She meant the ones in her hands including all of the others. She could figure out which ones worked with what she was wearing later.

"Of course. We just got paid." Rick didn't bat an eye. Kate smiled and lifted up on her toes to kiss him for it.

They barely made it out of the store before Kate put on both of the white ones so she could try and hide her tattoos. She twisted her hand and while it didn't cover all of it all the time, it did a pretty good job. They most definitely did not go with what she was wearing now.

"Happy now?" Rick asked her and saw her smiling as she nodded. "You want to try that dance and a dinner again or maybe beer and a pool game?" he offered since he knew where to do both.

"Beer? Pool?" Kate questioned since she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Pool, it is." At least he knew how to play pool which was something he couldn't say about dancing. "You can keep those on for this." That had Kate smiling again.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate had chosen to wear the darkest clothes she had for this beer and pool date. That meant that she could wear on black glove on one hand and her new black hand jewelry with a red rose sewn into it on the other hand. It had a loop for her middle finger, a black fabric medallion that covered most of her tattoo, and it was secured to her wrist to hold it in place.

"What do you think?" Kate spread her arms wide and spun in place.

"I…I think it's a lot of black," Rick said.

"You don't like it." Kate deflated. She really wanted him to like it. She wanted him to like everything. It was important.

"Maybe a different belt and different shoes. …Maybe?" Rick suggested hesitantly.

Kate yanked her belt off and threw it onto her old bed since she didn't sleep above Rick any longer. She slept in his bed with him, naked. It only took her one night to get him to sleep naked, too.

Next she kicked off her shoes and went searching for replacements.

A moment later and she was back. She had a silver chain for a belt to go with black jeans, her black top and she kept the black glove and black hand jewelry with a red rose and had changed out her black shoes for red high heels.

"Better?" She had chosen all black so that she would just disappear and others wouldn't see her or her tattoos and look at her like they had last time. This was the opposite of that. With the color she was going to stand out.

"Good enough to kiss," Rick informed her which had Kate smiling.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate wasn't actually feeling all that bad after walking to reach this place. Stepping into it her nose was instantly assaulted. She wasn't willing to say it stank and that it was horrible, but it was strong. "What's that smell?" Kate rubbed her nose thinking that might actually help but it didn't.

"This is a bar with pool tables. It's all about beer, alcohol, and a little food. People have gotten drunk here for years. Spilled everything you can think of in here and it starts to get soaked into the wood floors. People have gotten sick here, gotten into fights here, and gotten blood in places. It has history."

"Have you been here before?" Kate inquired.

"This particular place, no. Places just like this one, countless times." Rick had gotten drunk more times than he liked in places like this.

"I'm the only woman here." All she saw was men.

"And everyone's going to love you. Just like me." Rick headed for the bar not noticing that Kate wasn't moving.

"He loves me?" Kate already loved him but she didn't have the strength to tell him. She was a slave and they didn't fall in love with anyone.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate was sipping her beer that was a little reddish in color with a beige top while Rick's beer looked black with a brown top. There was also a plate of something called chicken wings in front of them.

Kate had been told to watch them play pool so she knew how it worked. One person got solids and the other got the stripes and until you were done you couldn't do anything to the 8 ball or make your cue ball go into any pocket. First one done and the 8 ball wins.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate soon found that it wasn't as simple as it looked. Getting the white ball to hit the other ball where you wanted it to so that that ball went where you wanted was a trick she was still trying to get a handle on.

She also didn't dare try and hit the ball nearly as hard as Rick was hitting it. Though he seemed to have the same problem. However, his ball or balls went farther than any of hers did.

"Anywhere?" Kate asked him as Rick put what was called the cue ball, that was the white ball, into a pocket when he wasn't supposed to.

"That's the rule." Rick watched as she put it right where she wanted to. She shot and promptly put her ball and the cue ball into the same pocket.

"Can I do that again?" Kate asked him since that hadn't gone the way she'd wanted it to.

"Nope." Rick picked up the cue ball and put it where he wanted to. His ball went into the pocket and his cue ball kept going. "No, no, no, no." Rick watched as the cue ball hit the 8 ball and knocked it in also. He put his hands on the side of the table and bent his head low.

"I thought you weren't supposed to do that?" Kate questioned him.

"You're not. Not until you run out of balls. It means you win," Rick grumbled.

"I WIN!" She still had a few balls to hit. "Really!" Kate was all smiles. "Can we do that again?" She wanted to win again.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate was having trouble walking and didn't understand why. Her stupid heels refused to work properly and she was hanging onto Rick. But she was also laughing a little and she was really happy.

She had only one the one game out of three but she had had fun. Even better, people were watching her but she didn't feel that they were watching her because she was a slave. Her tattoos were mostly covered and no one had said anything.

She had even gotten used to drinking beer. Even if she hadn't finished the second one.

"Rick, can we have sex when we get home?" It was partly because of her tag but mostly it was because she loved all the sex. He didn't rape her. He didn't something else even if she didn't have a word for it.

"All night long if you want." Rick grinned.

"Really!?" Now Kate was walking backwards while pulling Rick along to get him to walk faster. She wasn't even paying attention to where she was going. Suddenly her high heels started working perfectly for a change.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate slowly blinked her eyes open and saw familiar things. But for whatever reason she wasn't next to Rick and that just wasn't acceptable so she began to roll over so she could snuggle in closer and maybe go back to sleep.

Though as she did she noticed that her head was killing her. Every beat of her heart seemed to be happening in her head. What was worse was that now that she had noticed her head was killing her it caused her heart rate to increase and that only made it worse.

Still, getting closer to Rick was all she wanted so she kept going and willed feeling him next to him would make her head stop pounding. She shortly found that being next to him made her feel better but it did nothing for her head.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Finally Rick woke up and smiled at her. Then he frowned. "What's wrong?"

"My head." She had been willing for it to go away but it refused.

"Hangover. Sounds like you need to drink less alcohol." He didn't remember her drinking all that much but maybe what she'd drunk was too much.

"Stay here I'll get you something for your head." Rick got up over her and went to medical to find her something.

"Here, take this and drink." Rick handed her something after getting her to sit up. "Give that about an hour." Rick kissed her head and headed for the shower.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick was in his chair thinking about where to go next. The Rim was filled with all kinds of things and places to go. Though the Browns had been out here for a long time, even they hadn't searched even half of it. He was working on a plan.

Suddenly he found hands being wrapped around him from behind. "Feeling better now?" Rick asked her without even looking since it had to be Kate.

"Yes, thank you." Rick felt her kiss his head. "Where are we going?"

"Frankie's two loads have given us some money so I'm thinking of doing a blind scan in this area here. During the war we built a lot of places out in the Rim for all kinds of things. Maybe they're empty and maybe they're not. Abandoned military hardware can potentially be worth a lot.

"We don't use fuel so we can loiter around out there all we want. Scan everywhere we go. Maybe we'll get lucky. We've got the food and water. Sound good enough to you?" Rick asked her.

"Anywhere is good." Kate didn't care. She already had what she wanted. She had him.

"Better sit down and buckle up then so we can get started." Rick felt her arms leave him so he took a quick peek. "Are you still naked?"

"Yes!" Kate's smile was wide. Her head felt great but thanks to her headache they hadn't had sex this morning and she was missing that this morning.

"Okay, but if we crash it's because you distracted me with your sexy body," Rick warned her.

Kate just smiled and put on her headset. She liked listening to him talk to someone so they could leave and learn the words they used. She smiled when she heard they were cleared for FTL and listened to him tell them his destination then the tunnel showed up in front of her.

What she wanted to do was put away her headset and drag him at least as far as one of the sofas in the living room. However, she knew he would make a course change. It was one of his rules.

Kate listened to him change course. She sat back so now she put her headset away, unbuckled herself, helped him unbuckle, and took him back to their bed. She needed him and she had to have the sex that only he could provide.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

_It is three days later_

Over the last three days Rick had realized he'd created a monster. Thanks to the drug he had pumped her full of and now she was no longer ashamed that she needed so much sex and wasn't afraid to ask, he was paying the price.

Totally drained, Rick was sitting in his chair and was certain he stood no chance at getting another erection any time soon. But Rick felt arms come over his shoulders, hands find their way under his shirt and start stroking his bare chest. "Rick," Kate cooed into his ear and nibbled on it a little. Yeah, he had made a mistake alright. He did still have her. She wasn't pushing him away and he was falling in love with her. And he had no thoughts of killing himself. He just had to find a way to survive her insatiable desire for sex.

"We've reached the Rim. It's time to exit FTL so you need to sit down and strap in."

"Already?" She'd been naked for the last three days and when Rick hadn't been able to be inside her he'd put his head between her legs and satisfied her with his lips and tongue. But she wasn't done yet.

"Better hurry." Rick felt her take her hands away and heard her sit down and strap in. "Here we go." Suddenly both of them saw the tunnel go away and was replaced by blackness.

"I don't see anything," Kate stated as she looked out the windows or whatever they were made of.

"There aren't any artificial suns out here," Rick said. "We're going to have to do this the hard way."

"Which is?" Kate didn't know what the hard way was.

"We fly strictly by scanner. We need to avoid any asteroids and not slam into any planet-sized pieces. I have lights but they're limited in what they can show out here. Space has a tendency to suck everything up," Rick told her.

"So what are we looking for out here?" Kate queried.

"Well for starters we're going to search for any power sources or anything that's different," Rick explained. "Something that isn't just another rock."

"Can I help?" She didn't know how to fly but she had watched those red dots, so maybe she could do that again.

"You can try." Rick was willing to let her watch. He twisted around as much as his straps let him. "You want to watch this screen here and also this one." Rick pressed panels to get two of her screens to be right.

"This one is power. You'll get an alert if it finds anything. The other one is the same scanner as last time. That one you watch for any red dots." Rick turned back around and adjusted his straps.

"Got it." Kate tried to put one eye on one screen and one eye on the other and sat there.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

What Rick hadn't told her was that flying this way was way boring. All she saw when she looked up was mostly a lot of black unless their lights hit something that was close enough to be seen.

"Here." Kate handed him a sandwich to eat but didn't have anywhere to put his drink so she held onto it. She would just eat hers later.

"You really think anything is out here?" Kate hadn't seen anything in hours.

"Anything's possible. The war didn't reach out this far. The Alliance didn't dare leave their core planets that unguarded so only Browns ever really came out this far. Anything could be out here." Rick kept eating when he had a chance, doing his best not to slam into something.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate had left him and had gone to bed to get some sleep. Though sleeping in what was now their bed wasn't all that easy when she was in it alone. She finally got up, put her arms down his chest, and sneaked her hands to feel skin.

"Rick, please come to bed." She needed him. Yes they had spent almost all three days in bed having sex but now she had gone an entire day without him.

"Can't, there isn't anywhere to just stop out here. Some of these are moving and if I don't watch they'll hit us which would be bad." Rick's weary eyes went from screen to screen.

Kate moaned and let her head rest on his shoulder. That wasn't what she wanted to hear. She could satisfy herself but Rick was so much better at it.

"Sorry." Rick groaned. "See what you've done to me!" Thanks to her he was violating his own rule.

"Sorry." Kate smiled since she'd said it on purpose this time. "Just be careful." Kate kissed his cheek and retreated to their bed where she used her fingers to relieve herself.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

They had been out here for three solid days and Rick was almost dead on his feet. Or ass since he was still sitting in his chair. He had yet another cup of coffee that Kate had made for him and was watching everything as he sipped it since it was new and hot.

"Rick, what's this?" Kate pointed at something on her screen, not thinking that Rick couldn't see it. However, that got Rick to switch to one of her screens so he could see for himself.

It had him sitting up straight. "It's a power source. I think. But why does it look like that?" Then suddenly it was gone. "Great! Where did it go?" Rick tried moving his ship a little to see if that would help. It didn't.

"I'm going to try moving us a little closer. Here hold this for me and watch it, it's hot." The cup wasn't but if she spilled it on her bare skin it was going to hurt.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate watched her screen and was pretty sure he was getting closer and closer to what looked like a small moon in size. Easily smaller than the place that had that mine they had been to twice now.

Rick was actually thinking of landing on it, however, there was just something off about this place. "It looks like metal to me." Rick couldn't believe it even though he was looking right at it.

"HEY! Where did it go?!" Just like that it was gone and in its place was space. Then he got a signal for a power reading somewhere else. Just as soon as he managed to make it to that area then it disappeared on him just like last time.

Rick decided he's had enough of this hide and go seek moon. He extended the landing gear and landed on it instead. Activating the magnetics, he was a little surprised that he was now attached to whatever it was.

"I need sleep first before I start making mistakes. Then we're going to have a little look around. Something's going on here and I think we need to figure out just what it is. I think we're close though so we shouldn't have to go far." Rick got up to head for bed. He'd set up an alarm on the scanner in case anything came their way.


	10. Chapter 10

**Firefly**

_Chapter 10_

While Rick had designs on getting some sleep, Kate had other plans for him. She'd learned that while she might be a slave, Rick and others didn't see her as being a slave. With Rick around she didn't act like one. So she decided to get what she wanted and needed.

While Rick felt fine the next morning he was also well aware that a naked Kate was lying on top of him. Since she was asleep it allowed him some time to just reflect on his life after finding her on the floor crying with a broken something or other all around her.

Coming across her had been sheer luck. She was clearly the greatest thing to have ever happened to him. He knew for a fact that he was falling deeply in love with her, however, he wasn't sure just what she felt about him. Was it him or was it the drug?

Hell, finding the Firefly they were flying around in had been another lucky find. The only real problem he had with the ship were the missiles. He only had just so many and finding more was going to be a challenge. Yes, there were still lots of places that had old ammunition left over from the war. Though getting one's hands on them was another issue.

Rick went back to watching and saw her huff out a breath; he wondered what she was dreaming. She really was beautiful. Why her previous owner hadn't tagged her so he could keep her escaped him. He was a complete fool which was lucky for him.

Was his idea of using that much drug the right idea? He still didn't know for sure but at least coming clean with Kate hadn't pissed her off and made her mad at him. He did have to admit that the drug really did work; it worked pretty damn good. His primary problem was keeping up with her.

In fact he was certain that even after sex last night she was going to want more sex this morning so he tried to shift around so he could surprise her.

Feeling her grab hold of his head that was currently planted between her spread legs and listening to all the noises she made had him wanting to hear her scream so he plunged two fingers inside her.

While it wasn't instant and took a fair amount of licking and thrusting his fingers in and out of her that he finally got to hear her scream out her orgasm. Which might have actually been her second or maybe even her third. He'd gotten so lost in giving her pleasure that he hadn't paid close enough attention.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick had used the shower first. He was sitting in his chair still naked; he was betting they would be getting into space suits soon once he found a way inside.

Kate was clean and dry. She came up behind Rick just as naked and slipped her hands over his shoulders and down his chest. She smiled when she felt him shiver at her touch. She nibbled on his ear, something she loved to do.

"What's the plan?" Meaning what were they going to do today? This morning had been a wonderful surprise and she had loved it.

"It's metal so I'm guessing that it's hollow inside. I want to see if we can find a way into it." Rick was determined to find a way in. "There might be a landing bay but more likely is that we'll need to look for an airlock. Which means we'll need to put on space suits."

"We have space suits?" Kate knew what they were even if she'd never worn one before. She stood up straight but kept her hands on Rick since while he had given her an orgasm this morning, she could really use another one. She turned and looked around. She had no idea where they could be.

"Better sit down. It's time to start looking for a way to get inside." Rick felt her leave him to sit down. "You know your job. I want you to watch for red dots. We don't need unwanted guests to suddenly show up and try and blow holes in us." Kate heard that loud and clear so she focused on watching for red dots.

Rick detached himself from whatever it was they were attached to and moved toward where he was reading was a tiny power source. But before he could reach it, it just disappeared. "Arrrgh!" Like yesterday he felt like he was chasing something that wouldn't stand still so it could be found.

Finding the power source again he moved once more only to have it disappear on him.

On his fourth attempt he was ready to starting pounding on something. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Sorry." Kate knew she had said the word, however, this time she meant it.

"It's not you. What I'm chasing just keeps moving and I can never actually reach it before it vanishes," Rick explained. "You're fine, just keep watching for red dots." Being caught now by pirates in fighters would not be good.

Though he did have an idea. Rick concentrated on a different screen, used the computer, and what he had recorded so far since getting here.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Okay, let's see if this gets me anywhere." Rick allowed the computer to put each location on his screen and tried to predict where these spaces were occurring.

It was almost instantaneous. "Gotcha!" Rick sent it to one of Kate's screens so she could see. "It's round. All I get are these little patches that show up on my scanner only to have them disappear before I can reach them." Rick was more showing it by looking at his than showing her but he hoped she was following.

"So why does it show up and then vanish?" It was all Kate could think to ask.

"That's a good question. One answer is that who ever is inside is testing us. They don't have enough power to keep all of it hidden at the same time or maybe they just don't have the technology to do all of it at the same time." Rick tried to think about it.

"It might be a computer glitch. The program's failing and it's happening in random locations." Rick liked that idea best.

"So how does any of those help us? If we can't see it we can't see it." Kate wished she could help but all of this was way over her head. She just wasn't that smart. She was a slave.

"We're never going to see what we can't see. No one, not even the Alliance has this technology or how to pierce it. What we need is a break. To be in one of these not seen spaces when it suddenly can be seen. That or we need to be close enough to be able to reach it before it vanishes on us.

"So pick a spot, any spot, and that's where we'll wait," Rick told her.

"Me!?" Why her? She barely understood what they were doing.

"Maybe your luck is better than mine. You have just as good a chance as I do. So pick a black spot and that's where we'll wait."

Kate wasn't sure she had any luck but just pointing at a black area sounded easy enough. "This one maybe?" Kate put her finger on her screen which had Rick twisting to try and see where she was pointing.

"Got it. …Cross your fingers." Rick plotted a course and moved them in a way that they shouldn't crash into it so long as it was completely round and didn't have things like towers poking out of it.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"You want to find me a sandwich and a drink for lunch, please?" Rick asked her since he didn't dare leave his chair. His map was a little bigger but the next two locations hadn't been close enough to them for them to reach before it vanished.

"Thanks." Rick took his sandwich and noticed Kate sitting down in her chair with his drink, both of them still naked. He was still thinking that they would find an airlock that would require them to use space suits and there wasn't room for them to wear much inside those suits.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick was done with his sandwich and was just about ready to reach for his drink when a spot almost right next to them suddenly appeared.

He quickly maneuvered so he could scan the area and see if there was something there they could use.

Even Kate saw it when their lights hit something. "I see something!" she pointed excitedly. Until now all she'd seen was blackness.

"Yeah, that's where we're going. Just need to get there before it vanishes on us." Rick kept trying to get there.

"Now let's see what we've got before it disappears." He only had a few minutes and it would take over an hour and almost two before the next one would show up. "Definitely metal. Not a material I can identify which is interesting." He really should be able to identify what this metal was.

However, what he really wanted was… "An airlock! Jackpot! …Programming for automatic docking." Now even if the spot vanished he knew exactly where it was.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

It still took a few minutes for Rick to get into position so he could extend his docking bridge and connect.

"Station keeping." Rick released his straps, ran for the airlock, and extended the bridge until it showed all greens. It meant they were attached to whatever this place was.

"Use the bathroom now or you'll have to hold it." Rick did after Kate assured him she was good. Once back out he said, "We can stay naked."

"You don't want me to get dressed?" Kate was naked and was starting to put on one of her outfits.

"Space suits don't require you to be wearing clothes, but if it makes you happy you can wear one of my t-shirts and shorts. It's all I'm gong to be wearing."

"And where is this space suit?" Kate thought she'd seen everything unless it was behind the door that led to an engineering room that she'd never been in as yet.

She watched as Rick reached up and pressed a panel that she didn't remember seeing before. Instantly a panel in the ceiling folded down and with it a pair of suits she had never seen the likes of come with them.

They were mostly blue with a lot of orange ribbing. Mostly on the stomach, waist, and down the legs and arms. It looked like the boots were attached and there were these big glass domes.

"Looks tight," Kate commented and watched him take one down and open it up.

"So naked or a little something?" Rick questioned her. It looked kind of tight to her.

"Naked. What do I do?" She had never even seen one let alone worn one before.

"Feet and legs first." Rick helped her step in and then began closing it up around her. "Now arms and you need to duck your head as you go through this ring." Rick helped her slip into it then closed it up all behind her.

"Tight, I can barely breathe," Kate complained.

"Good, your breathing is what helps power the suit. There's a battery back up but mostly it's you. Now watch and remember." Rick took hold of her left arm. "This is your suit's oxygen monitoring system. When it reaches 15% it'll issue a warning. That will give you about an hour or so before you have to get somewhere you can open the suit and breathe.

"It also monitors your environmentals. Your belt either produces heat or cools as required. This screen here will show you what the temperature is inside your suit. You can only adjust it by making changes on your belt and watching what happens here." Rick dropped that arm and picked up her right arm.

"Now over here it will monitor what's outside your suit. Radiation, what the atmosphere is if any, amount of gravity. If you see anything on this side that starts blinking and issuing you a warning you'll need to take action immediately. You can only handle just so much radiation before it kills you." Rick dropped that arm.

"Your boots when in contact with metal in zero G will automatically attach to keep you from floating away out into space. Now the back that I just connected is your oxygen generation system. It's good for 8 hours so watch the timing on your left arm. The suit itself is self-sealing depending on just what has penetrated it. If it's too big you have only until you run out of oxygen to get inside. …Questions?" Rick was done.

Kate followed most of it, sort of. "Just don't go too far." She was sure she was going to need him for this.

"Count on it." Rick put his own on then looked everything over to make sure he was sealed.

"This dome goes on your head. Once it's in place the clock starts; you have 8 hours and no more. Once you take it off the clock stops. If there's a sudden burst of sunlight it will instantly dim and become gold in color. Your vision is basically normal. There are two lights on either side at the top of your head. You need to touch each of them to turn them on or off. …Here we go." Rick put it over her head and watched as Kate saw it go over her head. Then he snapped it in place. He lifted her left arm to show her the time and to show her the time counting down.

Rick grabbed his and did the same. "Communications check. Can you hear me?" He looked at her.

"Yes, it smells funny," Kate complained.

"Give it a chance it'll clear up. Follow me." Rick headed to the air lock.

Once they were both inside the airlock Rick cycled out the air. He told Kate to look at her right arm and asked her what it said.

"No oxygen," Kate replied and yet she kept on breathing.

"Good, now follow me." Rick opened the door that would lead them out into the bridge and off toward the other airlock door.

"Lights, on your head." Rick turned his on and watched Kate do hers. "Here we go."

Rick walked out into the bridge until he reached the far end. Once there he was presented with his first problem: how to get this first door open. What he found looked like a normal enough door. He also saw some things next to the door.

"This panel might be a simple scanner. Show it your card and the door opens. Except we don't have a card to use. So the backup would be to press these panels here. Question is in what order do we press them and do we have to press all of them?" Rick wondered out loud.

"Do we press all of them?" Kate asked.

"Good point. Say you were in a hurry and you didn't have access to the card or whatever it was you needed to pass over the scanner. One is too simple and not very security conscious. So I'm guessing three.

"Go back to our door and close it for me, please," Rick asked her.

Kate had gotten used to him asking her to do things and adding the word _please_. As if she really had a choice. And yet he made it sound like she did.

Still Kate went back, closed the door, and returned to Rick.

"There are six panels. So which of the six do you press three times? It needs to be fast and simple if you didn't have much time to waste.

"Let's start with 1, 2 and 4." That sounded simple to Rick; he pressed the 3 panels and watched the door pop in and slide to one side.

"It worked! A powered door, no less." The latter was a surprise. What if the door didn't have power?

Looking inside he saw an empty space just like the one on his ship. "Stay here for now." Rick wanted her out here while he went inside and looked around.

He saw a few panels that could be opened and he was betting they held things like emergency equipment and emergency oxygen. There was also another door on the far side with the same six panels though it had a pair of extra panels.

Then he went back to the door he'd opened and found the same eight panels next to the door. "Okay, come on in." Rick waved her inside.

Then for a test he asks Kate something. "What does your arm say?"

Kate looked at one of them. "Seven hours and 45 minutes remaining." Then she looked at her other arm. "No oxygen, no gravity, and 8 radiation."

"Very good." Rick was proud of her. "The radiation number is normal background radiation. Keep looking at the number and don't take your helmet off until I tell you to." They could handle a little radiation but there was a limit.

"Let's see if the same code gets us inside." Rick pressed the same code and watched the outside door close on his ship.

"Now let's see if the same code works in the inner door." Rick reached for the panels to see if the door opened.

"What's on the other side?" Kate was starting to wonder if this was a good idea.

"That's what we're about to find out." Rick pressed the same three panels and saw the inner door pop in and slide to one side.

"Now we get to go see if anyone's home." It suddenly occurred to Rick that he hadn't brought a weapon. He'd been so preoccupied with finding a way in and he hadn't thought this through very well.

It wasn't technically too late. But if this place was manned and they found someone, there were only the two of them. Maybe going unarmed would show that they weren't a threat. Even if his ship was.

However, another thought hit him. As hard as this place was to find and get inside of this far, and it was manned, why hadn't they sent any communications or even shot them down?

He'd been there for hours. Empty might be possible but he doubted it. Though how were they getting food? Water, oxygen and power were easy enough if you had what you needed. Food not so much unless you could grow it.

Just getting an answer to that would make this trip worth it.

He sincerely doubted this was Alliance. Though he'd never heard of the Browns having the ability to hide something like this.

Getting an answer to that would also make this trip worth it.

"Stay close, Kate, and it might be a good idea to go back to thinking that you're a slave again. Just in case, even if they can't see your tattoos."


	11. Chapter 11

**Firefly**

_Chapter 11_

Rick went through first and stepped into the dark. His lights, however, showed that it was a corridor. The walls looked to be rather gray with whole panels of a beige color to offset all that gray. Rick motioned for Kate to follow him into the space. Now he had to decide to go left or go right. The ceiling height looked to be a little taller than average. The floors didn't look like metal but he wasn't sure just what it was. There was a pattern to it so maybe tile.

Rick was still debating just which direction to go when suddenly the entire place lit up with lights. The lights themselves appeared to be in vertical columns between panels in the wall.

Then they both saw someone walking their way. Rick was thinking female since he was pretty sure she had breasts. She was wearing a uniform he'd never seen before. The body was dark blue and gray with black lines. The arms and legs had the same colors and they also had lines of silver.

When she stopped in front of both of them Rick raised both eyebrows high. She was blue! Okay, maybe blue/gray in color. All of her was that color. Her eyes were a shining bright blue. Though mostly it was her hair that had his attention; he wasn't sure she had any.

Her head looked like it had ridges, perhaps bone. In-between the ridges were slim lines of black. He took this to be hair though it was cut really short. It was the same as her eyebrows so it left him thinking hair. Save for the color and the head she looked human.

Then she started talking and Rick didn't understand a word she was saying. Then she stopped talking and just looked at both of them. Rick had noticed that she didn't look armed so maybe him not being armed, even if by accident, was a good thing.

"I'm sorry I don't understand a word that you say." Rick tried using his hands and arms to help show that he wasn't a threat.

The face she made at this showed surprise. "English. As you wish. Identity please." She switched to English easily.

That caught Rick by surprise but she didn't appear to be threatening.

"I'm Richard Rodgers and this is Kate." It was only now that Rick kicked himself for never asking her what her last name was. Granted as a slave she only needed a first name. However, before being sold she would of had a last name. A name that he might have been able to use to search for her parents. He'd been so stupid.

"COMMANDER RODGERS!? My apologies, Commander. You have been gone a considerable length of time. We were not expecting your return. If you will follow me, please, I will escort you to your suite. Then I will inform the others." She turned and walked away.

"Rick?" Kate questioned him softly.

"I have no idea. I'm a captain not a commander. At least they're not upset with us or attacking. I think we follow for now." Rick followed her and made sure Kate was behind him.

Rick looked at his arm and saw that the space had oxygen, gravity that was 96% of normal with less than 1% radiation. He also had over 7 hours of oxygen left on his timer.

Rick watched her open a manual door and step through; she held it open and waited.

Rick stepped through and saw much larger corridor. He walked into the middle and looked around in awe. It was well lit and was basically the same colors as the smaller corridor. What he didn't understand was why the airlock was where it was. Access looked to be limited.

"Follow me, Commander." Rick turned and noticed Kate standing right next to him. She'd been doing what he'd been doing, looking everywhere.

She walked away so Rick followed with Kate right next to him. "May I ask your name?" Rick heard Kate snort then realized that he'd basically done what Kate had done, ask a question to see if he could ask a question.

"It has been a long time. I am Doctor Liara T'Soni." Then she stopped at a door and pressed a panel.

"My apologies but just how long has it been?" Rick was assuming that she had confused him with someone else and needed to make sure of his questions so that he didn't give himself away.

"200,000 cycles. Myself and the others have done our best to keep this outpost operational since you and the other organics left." She and the others had been doing this since their last orders.

Then the door opened and she went inside and waited. Rick with Kate right behind him stepped inside. Rick and even Kate recognized it immediately. It was an elevator.

"Command deck," she called out and lights started to blink though they didn't feel anything. It didn't really last all that long until the lights stopped blinking and the door opened.

It was a very short corridor that had only two other doors though there was a staircase going up and down.

"The command room." She pointed at one door and opened the door across from it. "Your quarters." She motioned for them to go inside. "I will assemble the others and meet you in the command room in two centaiis. I can assure you the atmosphere is safe." She had naturally noticed that they were still wearing a type of space suit.

"Thank you, Liara." Rick went inside followed by Kate and waited for the door to close.

"What's going on, Rick?" Kate had been so scared and didn't understand any of this that she hadn't even noticed her tag touching her clitoris the entire time.

"I really don't know." Rick looked at his arm that told him it was safe. However, the suit had its limitations. It couldn't tell you if there were any diseases, viruses, or any other contaminants. Regardless he cracked his helmet open and didn't instantly die so he sniffed the air. It smelled fine to him so he finished taking off his helmet and finally began to look around.

Rick heard Kate's voice and turned that direction. She was standing in front of glass that was looking out onto space. Yes, it was black and they didn't see much, but it was obvious.

What he saw was three of these panels. Up against the center one was a sofa that had a coffee table and two chairs on the opposite side. To his left was what to him said work station. There was a large desk with a small monitor on it along with a chair. On the wall behind that was a much larger screen though it was dark at the moment. On either side of this large screen were two smaller screens. Outside of that were shelves filled with items.

To one side was a dining table that could seat four people. The far wall on the side held something he couldn't recognize.

Looking to the right he saw two more chairs and a small table along with what was obviously a door.

Rick left Kate to look at the blackness. He walked to the door and pressed a panel next to it that got it to open. Inside he found a single large bed, two night stands and two more doors. "Kate." He thought she should be following him so she could see all this.

Rick took the door to his right first. He opened it the same way and saw a large walk-in closet filled with clothes. It was a real mix of clothing, too. Men's on one side and clearly women's on the other. Each side held what he would say were uniforms that matched what Liara had been wearing while other clothes were far more civilian looking.

"Clothes!" Kate was right behind him. Rick left her at the closet and opened the last door to find a bathroom. It had a shower, two sinks, a toilet, and some storage.

"Rick, what's going on?" She'd kept quiet just like he had suggested. To act like she was a slave and to keep quiet and not speak unless spoken to.

"I have no idea, Kate. I truly don't know." He didn't get it. "Let's get your helmet off at least." Rick reached out to twist it, unlock it, and lift it over her head. Then he places hers on the bed next to his.

"I don't really smell anything," Kate commented as she sniffed and breathed deeply.

"The air's definitely filtered and cleaned." Then he walked to the sink and turned on the water. "There's water." He wasn't willing to test it just yet so he turned it off.

"Might as well get out of these since it doesn't look like we need them." Rick had Kate turn around so he could undo her and help her out of her spacesuit. He knew how to do his own so he stripped himself.

Then into the closet he went with Kate right behind him. He opened drawers on her side and soon found lots of lingerie. "I think I'll let you chose what to wear." Rick left her to it. He opened drawers on his side and found mostly the same.

Rick came across underwear and realized that they actually fit him. He tried on socks and a few shoes. Then he grabbed a uniform. If he was a commander he decided he might as well keep up the deception for now.

Kate was pleased that most of the bras would fit her as would most of the panties. She selected a top, slacks, and spun a carousel filled with shoes. She smiled as she saw it didn't just spin, it went into the wall, then turned and came back. Kate selected some heels that coordinated with the rest.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick got dressed faster and Kate found him standing at the chair in the living room. "What is it?" Kate questioned him.

"It looks like a workstation. Maybe a setup to monitor what's happening around this place. The problem is that I don't recognize what any of this says. It's just a bunch of lines to me." Rick decided to sit in the chair and look around. "There doesn't appear to be anything specific. None of this really makes any sense.

"A hollow base deep inside the Rim. Except for an occasional section that keeps changing no one would ever find it. It clearly has power, water, and people living here. Yet that main corridor was really wide suggesting… I don't know.

"And how did I become Commander Rodgers after we made it inside? None of this makes any sense to me." Rick looked around again trying to make some sense of this.

"A place to live. A place to eat. A place to sleep and a bathroom. And windows." Kate returned to looking out them.

Rick kept looking at all the symbols. "She was blue," he commented.

"I noticed. …And no hair. Why did she switch to a language we could understand?" Kate kept looking out into space. There really wasn't anything to see. It was just a lot of blackness.

"Well, don't you look nice." Rick had finally noticed what Kate was wearing.

Kate smiled. She was still learning that Rick was special. He didn't treat her like a slave and while that was nice it also made her uncomfortable. He may not treat her like one but she was still a slave.

"Thanks. It even all fits me." Okay, maybe not all since she hadn't tried on everything but what she had chosen did fit. "Do you know who she was? She said doctor." Kate was thinking medical doctor now knowing that there were all kinds of doctors. Not all know anything about medicine.

"The name isn't known to me. Maybe if she tells us who she represents that might help. But no, I don't know her." Rick didn't recognize the name.

"She wanted us in the Command Room. Shall we go see if she wants to provide us with answers? Since I'm apparently a commander around here." Rick got up out of his chair, opened the door to the corridor, and crossed to the other door.

It had a large panel on the wall that had in white the outline of a hand. "Uh-oh." If it wanted a palmprint they were in trouble. The chances they had his palmprint were so tiny to be impossible.

"What?" Kate wasn't following.

"It wants a palmprint. I've never been here before so how would it know my palmprint?"

"Oh… Do we go back instead?" She meant strip, put on their space suits, and try to find their way back to their ship and leave.

"The most it could do is deny us entrance." Rick dismissed there being an explosive or some other booby trap. The most it could do was signal an alarm and armed guards would come rushing to arrest them and lock them up. Followed by hours upon hours of questioning.

"Let's find out." Rick placed his right hand on the scanner just like the fingers on the display asked for. In just a moment he saw green lights and the door opened. Rick was too shocked to even go anywhere closer to the door.

"It opened. I thought you said–" Rick interrupted her.

"It shouldn't have. I swear I've never been here before. We can always close it again and you can put your hand on the panel," Rick offered. If it opened for her, maybe it would open for anyone.

Kate showed him that she was brave and went through the door. "WOW!"

Rick groaned since none of this was making any sense to him and now Kate was out in front instead of him. He stepped inside and was right behind her. "WOW!"

He could honestly say he'd never seen anything like it in his life. Or even heard of anything like it before. Maybe the Alliance had something like this but then again, maybe not.

The floor was black and the ceiling was gray. In each case there were two long lines of lights from end to end. It was a large, long room that had an enormous screen on the far end. On the right and left side there were four chairs with huge screens in front of each chair.

In the very center was a large rectangular table that presently had a 3D image of his ship sitting on it.

Each of the chairs were manned and there were two more people standing at the table looking at his ship. Then one of those two spotted both of them.

"Welcome, Commander. Please join us." She motioned them over.

Rick and even Kate were trying to look everywhere all at the same time as they make it to the middle. Some of what Rick saw on each side looked very familiar. Others were a total mystery.

"This is my ship." Rick made it to the middle next to what he took to be Doctor Liara.

"Correct, Commander. We have been monitoring your ship ever since it entered this parsec," Liara admitted.

Rick's temper flared. "You knew we were coming. Yet you didn't send any signals."

"This outpost is meant to be a secret and not be found. If we had sent a signal more than you would have intercepted it. We were forced to remain silent," Liara said calmly.

"Well we wouldn't have found you at all save that we could scan parts of you on occasion," Rick said since lying sounded like such a bad idea.

Liara bowed her head. "We have been having a few errors of late. Certain parts are breaking down from age."

"You said something about 200,000 cycles. Did you mean years?" Rick questioned her.

"You left here roughly 200,000 cycles ago when you were recalled. All organics left this outpost at that time," Liara informed them. "We remained behind to monitor and maintain the outpost."

"You remained?" Kate put a hand over her mouth. She'd forgotten to act like a slave and remain silent.

"We are androids. All of us here." Liara waved an arm at all of them. All 10 of them.

Kate wanted to ask another question but she remembered to remain silent and hoped Rick would ask the question she had.

"How? You can't be 200,000 years old." Rick didn't see how that was possible.

"We are powered by rechargeable sarium krellide cell packs, augmented by biochemical and electroplasma micro-reactors," Liara explained. "We are designed to last another 200,000 cycles."

Rick had no idea what any of those things were. How they were made, how they were recharged, let alone replaced.

He started with this. "Let's go backwards. Why can't this place be found? It doesn't show up on my scanners or visual scans let alone eyesight."

"This outpost is artificial with a power core in the very center that is designed to last forever. However some of the power conduits routing power to the cloaking device need to be replaced. We are in the process of replacing them but our fabrication facility is small so it is taking time. Until that is complete certain sections will become visible at random.

"We estimate it will be complete roughly a year from now," Liara added.

Rick walked up to his ship and just for fun he put a hand through it. Then he looked behind him and watched as the display changed. "Wait, wait." He walked up behind the person manning that area.

"I know that area. That's an Alliance core planet." Then he looked down at the screens that were just floating in front of the person or android sitting there. "Those are Alliance ships." No one had this kind of scanning range. That planet was almost unbelievably far away.

"I can't take it. Neither of us have ever been here. We're not androids and we're not going to live for 200,000 years. So why did you call me Commander Rodgers?" Rick knew they would never be able to keep up the pretense. They would screw up eventually.

"We are aware you are not directly Commander Rodgers." Liara walked over to the table and suddenly a face in 3D replaced his ship. "This is Commander Rodgers. Taking 200,000 cycles into account for biological drift we were able to go from our original Commander to you."

Suddenly a number of heads showed up in a ghostly looking 3D. Like the other 3D images there was no color. It was basically shades of gray.

"Our original commander was an Iconian. Given 200,000 cycles of drift you are the direct descendant of our commander. In Iconic culture that makes you our commander."

Kate stood next to Rick as they looked at the original Commander Rodgers down to what Rick looked like now.

The original had maybe a little more bone around his eyes and more bone on his forehead and his hair was far more receded than Rick's was now. Looking down the row it told the story of how he had changed over 200,000 years.

"But we both look more like Alliance members than this." Rick accidentally waved his hand though the Iconian head. "Oops." He hadn't meant to do that.

Liara had an explanation for that. "Interbreeding."

"Doctor," Kate offered softly since while she was having a hard time following, Liara had said she was a doctor so maybe that helped explain it.

Rick looked at the head and the entire area one more time and saw the Alliance planet had been replaced with something else. He glanced at Liara. "You've been monitoring all this for the last 200,000 years?"

"Correct, Commander." Liara answered instantly.

"So what happens now?" Liara and her other androids had been in charge. Rick was thinking they should just stay in charge and maybe help him and Kate just a little. Maybe fill his cargo hold with something then move on.

"By Iconian law you are our commander. We await your orders, Commander. We are here to serve." Liara bowed her head again.


	12. Chapter 12

**Firefly**

_Chapter 12_

He was in charge. He wasn't even really sure just where he was. He'd certainly never heard of an Iconian. So he had no idea just what to do next.

However Liara beat him to it. "What are these on your hands?" She was not used to seeing anything like them on any Iconian hands before they were recalled.

"My tattoos." Kate didn't know how to hide them. Not that it mattered much when what she was trying to use to hide them when in public was back on the ship.

"Do they serve a purpose?" Liara questioned both of them.

"I'm a slave. My tattoos show me to be a slave," Kate answered.

"Slavery is not permitted per Iconian law." Liara looked at Rick believing that she was his slave.

"Kate was a slave when I found her. Her tattoos can't be removed. I would if I could," Rick said defensively. "The Browns fought a war with the Alliance to prevent slavery. We lost, so now billions or more are basically unmarked slaves."

"I see. …Come with me, please." Liara could fix this problem and was going to so that neither of them were in violation of Iconian law.

Just as they reached the elevator Rick and Kate saw several of the androids leave the room. Rick immediately thought they were only there to meet him.

They found themselves in either the same wide corridor or a different one since all Liara did was ask for medical and there they were. In fact all they did was walk across the wide corridor, through another door, and into a room.

This room was almost all white and extremely bright and hard on the eyes. There were only two beds though there were also two glass enclosed rooms as well as what looked like an open office.

"Place your hands on the bed for me, please." Liara patted the bed and waited for Kate to comply.

Kate did as she was told since that was what slaves did. Then they both watched as this light bar came up out of the bed on one end, passed the length of the bed, then went back into the bed.

Rick hadn't seen her retrieve one but Liara had something in her hand. "Interesting. This is not just ink. Unless I'm mistaken your hands were burned then this mixture was poured into place. The mixture itself is made of several components." Liara left Kate behind and sat down at her desk.

It allowed Kate to leave the bed and go over to Rick who put an arm around her. At first she had thought her tattoos were going to be removed easily, however it was sounding like that wasn't the case. She knew from bitter experience that getting her intricate tattoos had been very painful and had hurt for weeks.

Rick took Kate with him and stood in front of Liara. "Can you remove her tattoos? Tell me what you need and I'll go find it," Rick said. Kate turned to look at him. He was such a kind man. Far better than she deserved.

"At first I had thought this would be easy. However the mixture they have used is proving to be a challenge. Even if I find a way to remove the mixture her hands will still be badly marked. I need to determine a safe way to remove the mixture without doing additional damage." Then suddenly Liara was back up and standing next to the bed.

"Lie down on the bed for me this time, please," she asked Kate and waited.

Rick nodded since this might mean she lose her tattoos and could become a free woman. Kate hopped up then lay down on her back and watched that light arm pass over all of her this time.

Liara had her hand unit that she was consulting. "What is going on here?" Her readings weren't making any sense. "There is a massive amount of a synthetic substance in your blood that needs to be removed."

"My drug. Please don't remove my drug." If she removed her drug she wouldn't want nearly as much sex and she was really addicted to all she could get.

"This drug serves no useful purpose," Liara argued.

"Please leave it. I want the drug. It serves a useful purpose to me," Kate maintained. Rick knew he was the reason for the drug. But he'd never known Kate wanted the drug that badly. He knew what it did to her.

"It does not appear to be causing any damage. So if you insist." Liara would rather get rid of it but it was not her body and she was there to do medical work and meet the needs of her patients.

"You have had an operation." Liara had found one more thing to fix.

"Yes." Kate knew what they had done. Every slave had an operation or so she had been told at the time.

"You have been rendered sterile due to this operation," Liara stated.

"What!?" Now Rick moved up next to both of them.

"Both of her Fallopian tubes have been removed. This has effectively rendered her sterile," Liara said. "The female is still producing eggs and releasing them. However, her body is absorbing them and preventing her from producing a baby."

"Kate?" He hadn't know this had been done. Not that he knew everything that happened to a slave save for the obvious tattoos. If her previous owner had paid for this now his opinion of that idiot just went a lot lower.

Kate felt tears well up. She was a slave and even if her tattoos could be removed or covered she was still going to be a slave. "I'm sorry." This time she used his hated word on purpose.

"Oh, Kate." Rick took one her hands in his and lifted it up to kiss her tattoo.

"I can repair that damage if you wish," Liara offered.

"WHAT!?" Both Kate and Rick said at the same time.

"I will need to take a DNA sample and grow new Fallopian tubes first," Liara informed them.

Rick looked at her, his brow furrowed. "You're talking about cloning, are you not?"

"Correct. We can clone body parts and use those cloned parts to replace parts should they fail while within your body. This will take a few days. I can use those days to create a plan to remove your tattoos. Stay right where you are." Liara left her and went to a wall to retrieve a device.

She returned with something long that looked eerily like a huge syringe. "I need you to lift your top for me. I need to remove your DNA from your abdominal area. This should not hurt but it will be uncomfortable to feel."

Since Kate had pulled back her top Liara placed the device in position then slowly plunged it deep into her stomach area.

Kate moaned since just watching it meant it should be painful in the extreme.

"Are you feeling pain?" Liara didn't understand how that could be, however, she had moaned.

"No, but I'm scared. It looks and feels like it should," Kate replied.

"Just a moment longer." She needed to fill her container, as small as it was, with material for her to use. Then she pulled it out. "All done. I suggest you rest there for now." She took her device to another section of her medical bay and inserted the contents into a different implement.

Rick was back at her side. "How do you feel?"

"Fine, I think. A little tired now, actually," Kate admitted.

"That is a side affect of the device. It will pass in time with no lasting damage." Liara had heard everything while she worked.

"You didn't tell me. Why?" Rick inquired quietly while he looked at her.

Kate's eyes were downcast. "There was nothing you could do about it, Rick. They removed something. No one could just give it back." It wasn't like Rick could fix her.

Instead of being angry at her he leaned down to kiss her and felt her kiss him back.

Liara was back and standing next to him. "This female is your mate, Commander?"

"I… Kate is… It's complicated." Thanks to her being a slave everything was complicated.

"What is the purpose of the piercing? Is it a personal preference?" She didn't understand why the female had that thing, either.

"Our society accepts slaves as sickening as that might be. Her previous owner didn't tag her with a method that would allow him to get her back if they were separated. Knowing that I tagged her so that if we got separated I stood a chance at getting her back. That's also the reasoning for the tiny tattoo she also has.

"Kate isn't a slave to me," Rick insisted. "She's so much more than that. If we got separated and she wasn't tagged she would remain a slave all her life and that just wasn't acceptable. Her tag contains enough information to contact me so I could retrieve her from whoever found her."

"I see. …Well if her hand tattoos are removed I would recommend that her tag piercing also be removed. As to the other tattoo, that is up to you two," Liara said.

"I will escort you back to the correct elevator so that you can reach your quarters. The female will need to rest after this. Contact anyone if you need instructions on how to use the replicator in your room when you are hungry."

"Replicator?" Rick understood the word but not the context of how it was used.

"All of this outpost uses replicators to create food. They use energy and subatomic particles which are everywhere in the universe and turns them into the component molecules of a thing then forms the thing itself from those molecules. Food and water in this case. There will be tiny errors in what is replicated in the taste or texture. The complete subatomic structure of something is required to make it.

"The computer attached to each unit is capable of displaying any item asked for or selected from the list it can display for consumption. There is such a unit in your quarters." Liara went toward the door. "If you will follow me, please." She was ready to take them to the elevator.

"There is a communication station at your work desk. Simply ask for help and someone will arrive. State where you want to go once in the elevator. In this case it will be the Command deck," Liara told them.

"That's nice but I can't read a word it says. Or anything in the medical bay, for that matter," Rick grumbled.

"Oh." Liara hadn't anticipated this problem. "Follow me back into medical, please."

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Minutes later after having contact lenses placed in their eyes they both suddenly understood every written word in medical.

"Your contacts send a signal to the outpost computer and convert every symbol of the Iconian language and superimposes English over it for you to read. Verify for me that they are functioning correctly." She was going to have to find another pair if not.

Once Liara was satisfied she let them leave medical and go to their quarters on their own.

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"You want to sleep?" Rick questioned her as they reached their room.

"No." Kate had other ideas and pulled Rick behind her into their bedroom, trying to figure out how to get him out of what he was wearing. She wanted sex instead.

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Kate was totally satisfied as she rested naked next to a naked Rick. Four orgasms later usually did that to her. At least for a few short hours.

"Rick, if they fix me will that mean I could be pregnant and have a baby?" All this sex with no downside that she could see like ending up pregnant was great. However if she was going to end up pregnant a lot maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"That's usually the end result of sexual intercourse over an extended period of time." Rick held her close; he loved having a naked Kate next to him. "You don't want to have a baby?"

Kate was silent for a short time. "I don't really know. If I end up pregnant each time we have sex I'm going to be pregnant a lot." That was what had Kate worried.

"There are birth control methods. Not all of them that I know anything about are 100% effective. We can talk to her about it next time we see her." Rick just lay there and reveled having her in his arms.

"Do you believe her?" Kate questioned him next.

"That I'm a descendant from this Iconian Rodgers from 200,000 years ago? That one's a little harder to swallow. …I suppose with interplanetary breeding of Iconians and us that it's possible. What I want to know is what happened to these Iconians. Why did they need to interbreed with us? Based on what I've seen so far their technology is superior to the Alliance.

"The ability to hide this place and only be found because they're having a power issue is something I've never heard that the Alliance has ever had." Rick was thinking that if the Browns had this technology they would either have won or won far more advantageous terms for a ceasefire.

"Do we stay here?" Kate asked him since they could retreat to their ship.

"If they're going to keep calling me Commander and actually do what I ask, I don't see why not." Rick shrugged. "Besides we've barely seen anything. Just that control room and medical bay. There's still a lot to see.

"If you're asking how long we're going to stay, that I don't have an answer to. I think we're just going to have to play this by ear. Though it would be nice to have some friends."

"Like your friends Frankie and Liz. I kind of liked those two." They were the first people besides Rick who didn't see her as a slave and actually talked _with_ her, not _at_ her.

"Similar maybe, just not the same," Rick agreed.

"Maybe we can go get them and bring them here?" Kate suggested and twisted her head to look at him.

"The problem with leaving is finding this place again when we come back. If they fix their power problem we'll never find it. Especially if this place is capable of moving." For all Rick knew this place wasn't stationary and could move.

"But you're their commander. Don't they have to do what you say?" Kate challenged him.

"Except they said they weren't risking communications since it might give themselves away. If they don't talk how do I find them again?" Rick wasn't sure how to solve that problem.

Suddenly Kate's stomach growled. That was one of the downsides of all this sex she craved. She used up a lot of energy and made her hungry.

"Sounds like we need to figure out how to use this food dispenser of theirs." Rick smiled since he was a little hungry as well.

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Still nude, both of them stood in front of this device on the wall close to the dining room table. Rick was wrestling with the first problem. "Well I know what it says, just not what it means. Most of this stuff means nothing to me even if I can read it."

"Didn't she say there was a computer that had a list and could show us something? Maybe that will help?" It was all Kate could think of.

"Okay, let's see. Maybe it works on voice command like the elevator does." Rick still stared at the device. "Computer, show us a list of all cold and hot sandwiches." He instantly saw a huge list start to scroll down. "Stop!" He was never going to keep up at this speed.

"Show us hot sandwiches only, one at a time, with 15 second intervals." Rick tried that and saw a picture of the first one appear.

A number of pictures later, "Stop." Kate saw something she liked. "I'll try that one."

"Computer, provide the hot sandwich presently shown," Rick ordered and they both watched as what looked like a bunch of angry electrical bolts turned into the sandwich. Just the smell alone had Kate's stomach growling. It was even on a plate. Rick took it out and set it on the table. "Water, please," Kate asked. "Computer, one glass of ice water, no gas." Rick watched as what he asked for showed up in the same manner. He handed it to Kate who sat down and taste tested her sandwich.

"I don't know what it is, but it's not bad." Kate took a bigger bite and made contented sounds.

Rick ended up asking for the same thing and sat down across from Kate who was almost half done already. One bite later and Rick was ready to agree. "Not bad."

"I wonder if there's a way for it to scan what's in my food packets and bottles on the ship? At least then we would know what we are eating and drinking," Rick mentioned and kept eating.

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They were done eating and were both dressed. "You sure we should?" Kate questioned him even though he had talked her into getting dressed since she was more than happy to just stay naked and have more sex.

"Well, they say I'm the commander. So let's go take a look around. If we get lost we can ask someone how to get back here. Besides I'd like to try and find my ship in case we need to." Rick reminded her why he had talked her into this.

"This better work," was all Kate was willing to say.


	13. Chapter 13

**Firefly**

_Chapter 13_

Since they'd been on the medical level before but had only gone through the door to medical, they started there. They went down the corridor opening doors and taking a quick peek before moving on. Then instead of using the elevator again they went down the stairs. The first room they found on this level turned out to be what they believed to be a cafeteria. There was even a complete chef's kitchen available.

"I thought she said all food was through that unit in our room," Kate remarked in confusion as she stood in the middle of the kitchen.

"Well we're the only two here that will be eating since androids don't eat, so maybe she's correct now just not right before everyone left," Rick offered.

Then it was down the stairs again. Most of the rooms were nothing special so far so they only actually searched rooms that interested them.

This level had a short corridor that ended in a door so they went the opposite direction and found it ended in another door. So Rick opened this one. "It's an airlock." Since he didn't have his spacesuit on they were forced to back out and try the other door.

"Another airlock," Rick reported and backed out. Kate hurried to keep up with him as he jogged back to the stairs.

Kate saw him looking at the stairs then down the corridor. "What?" Kate wasn't following what he was thinking.

"This set of stairs is longer than the previous level. I'm thinking whatever's behind those two doors is actually two floors tall. So what needs to be two floors tall?" Now Rick was interested and started opening the doors they had passed up on this level.

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Kate still wasn't following even after opening all the doors on this level. "What?" Kate asked him again.

"All of these rooms look to be filled with material. Some of it's rough while some of it has a finished look to it.

"She said the main power was in the center and so far all the corridors are curved. Those corridors are in the middle with doors on each side. The only reason you need an airlock is if the space beyond is or can be exposed to open space.

"A landing bay with doors leading out to space is the only thing that makes sense. If it's only wide from that wall to this wall because the very center is power, it's still not that big.

"There might be ships in that space. Small ones to be sure, but ships. I wonder what kind," Rick mused since there were lots of options.

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On the next level down the first door Rick opened had his interest. "Ooo." Rick went inside with Kate right behind him.

Kate didn't see what he saw so interesting. And she was about done walking. Her tag was hitting her clitoris; she was on fire and needed Rick.

"What is all this?" Mostly she saw tanks, piping, and other things.

"Environmentals. Waste water treatment. Hot water generation. A/C and heating. Anti-grav system. We have all this on the ship only a lot smaller. This is meant for something a lot bigger and far more people." Rick looked it all over and noticed that each system had a different color.

"That explains all the cabins we've seen so far," Kate commented.

"Yes, if the medical deck was dead center. The landing bay just below that. The control deck at the top. Where's our ship?" He hadn't seen the corridor they had been in to reach it yet.

"Up or down?" Kate asked.

"We go farther down. We can take the elevator up to the control deck and walk our way down," Rick said.

"There were ten of them. So where is everyone?" Kate queried as they headed to the stairs since they hadn't seen anyone since that moment in the control room.

"Likely in areas that they deem critical. Save for the anti-grav system this area isn't critical to them. They're androids and don't need air or water."

The next level down didn't show them anything interesting after opening the door and just looking inside. If they really wanted to they could search each space in detail later. It was also the final level. The stairs didn't go down any farther. This was as low as it got.

Reaching the next level down they found a pair of doors and except for the door that was an elevator it was all that was down there.

"This is different." Rick looked them over. It was more like a previous door. There was a panel for him to place his palm on if he wanted to open it.

Kate took hold of his arm. Rick looked back at her. "You okay?" They'd been walking for a while but he thought she was strong enough to handle it.

"I need you. My drug and my tag have me soaking wet." Kate understood now what the drug did and what her tag was doing and she knew that she loved all the sex. It was so much better than what her old master had done to her. She also knew how Rick treated her and she was learning to love him like Liz had talked to her about.

Rick looked at the double doors and was itching to find out what was inside. He could simply see if he could open it and soldier on to search the room. However, he knew he couldn't let Kate suffer. The drug and her tag had been his idea.

Rick was still debating when he found himself opening the door to the elevator. Kate kissed his cheek for that. They could come back down here later.

Simply asking for Command Deck got them to just outside of their cabin.

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Kate felt amazing again after having four orgasms. She was all stretched out and resting next to Rick, reveling in the afterglow of sex.

"You think they can actually remove my tattoos?" Kate didn't see how. She knew what it had taken to get them. She had been unconscious at the time but the pain for weeks after had been horrible.

Kate raised her hand and flexed her fingers. Why they worked as well as they did was surprising. She knew there were a lot of bones just below the surface. For all she knew her tattoos were directly attached to her bones.

"Maybe." Rick hadn't seen a medical bay anything like the one here. If this place had androids that had actually survived the last 200,000 years that alone said advanced technology.

Rick felt he was ready. Finding Kate had actually saved his life and had given him a chance for a long future. If she lost her tattoos it meant she was no longer a slave and she could be like any other woman.

Though what he wasn't sure about was how Kate felt besides not being treated like a slave any longer.

"Kate, how do you feel about marriage?" Rick hadn't been this scared at any point in his life. Not even that day he had killed Admiral Kona. Killing him had simply been a job and he was good at it. This was different.

"I can't get married though my parents are." She was a slave.

"As a slave, no, but if you lose these tattoos no one can say that you're a slave ever again." Rick still wasn't brave enough to just come out and ask her to marry him.

Then Kate twisted so she could look at him. Suddenly her heart was pounding. Rick meant so very much to her now. What he had done had effectively rescued her from a life of servitude and hating her life.

She was actually beginning to think that she had a future and now Rick was asking her about marriage.

"I love you! If you ask I'll say yes." Kate literally couldn't think of any place else to be than with Rick for the rest of her life. Was he going to ask her? He needed to ask her so she could say yes.

Rick had questioned it but now she had told him. "I love you, too." Rick instantly found himself being kissed. Then kissed again and again. "So that's a yes?" Rick smiled wide at her who even to him looked like she was actually glowing.

"Yes," Kate answered softly. "No. …Did you actually ask me?" Somewhere in her enthusiasm she wasn't sure he'd actually asked her to marry him.

"Right after they remove your tattoos I'll even be down on both knees and ask you to marry me. Though I'm pretty sure I don't have a ring for you to wear." He didn't know when or if that was going to happen.

"I don't care." She really didn't, either, and kissed him then kissed him again. "Let's find out if they can remove my tattoos." Kate was out of the bed and hurried to the door.

"Clothes!" Rick called out which had Kate looking down at herself and laughing. She'd gotten used to living naked on their ship. Now she had people walking around and needed to start wearing clothes.

"Fine!" She wanted her tattoos gone not worrying about wearing clothes, but she went to the closet to find something to wear anyway.

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They got lucky and found Liara in the medical bay, sitting at her desk. "Commander, what can I do for you?" Liara never actually stopped reading what she was looking at.

"Kate is anxious to lose her tattoos. We came to see if you've learned anything yet," Rick responded for Kate.

"Healing her burns is the easy part. The problem I am having is removing the material that does not result in permanent damage to her hands. Loss of feeling and dexterity for example. What I am presently also having trouble understanding is why her system does not reject the material as being a foreign substance. Her body should be trying to reject the material." Liara kept reading trying to solve the problem. "I could take additional DNA and grow new hands for her. Cut off her existing hands and attach the new ones. It may be easier. It will take months to grow the new hands, however." Liara looked up at both of them.

Rick turned to look at Kate and was mildly amused that she had both of her hands in her armpits. "I think we'll let you keep doing research and fix her hands instead of cutting them off."

"As you wish." Liara did not care one way or the other. "I will at some point need additional DNA from both of you."

"Why?" Rick didn't understand. He hadn't been under her scanner so he should be in perfect shape.

"I will need the DNA so I can grow various organs like the female's Fallopian tubes. If you have an organ failure I will be able to grow a new one and replace the failed organ with a new one."

"DNA," Rick whispered since he had a wild idea.

"Commander?" She had used the word before, certain that he knew what it meant.

"You mentioned her system should be rejecting the substance. What if part of the substance has part of her DNA? Would it continue to reject it if it recognized part of it?" Rick queried.

"An intriguing theory, Commander." Liara got out of her chair and went over to the closest bed. "Place your hands on the bed one more time for me, please." Kate watched the bar go over her hands then Liara was back at her desk so Kate took her hands back.

"Fascinating. It does indeed contain her DNA. Her DNA is coating the side where it is attached to her hands. The material is actually sitting on her DNA. But this DNA has a coating around it." Liara kept typing.

"Come back in one of your hours and I will be ready. This will take some time to accomplish," Liara warned both of them.

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Rick and Kate were back in their cabin while they waited. "You look nervous." Kate was sitting on the sofa and almost wrapped up in herself so it wasn't hard to tell. Rick sat down next to her.

"What if it doesn't work? What if I'm going to be a slave for the rest of my life?" She had a real shot at not being a slave but what if she was forever doomed? Rick wasn't going to marry a slave.

Rick put an arm around her and drew her close to him. "Try to think positively. Think that you want to get married," Rick suggested and watched Kate finally start to smile. "Even if it is to me."

His last comment earned him a soft elbow into his side.

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"Commander, I am ready. If you will bring the female down to medical I can get started," a voice suddenly announced.

Rick and Kate arrived to find Liara and one other android were waiting for them.

"This is Tali Zorah, she will be assisting me in this operation. This will take a few hours, Commander. There is no need for you to wait."

Rick embraced Kate and gave her a quick kiss. "Just think about what comes after this, …Mrs. Rodgers." Rick smiled a wide smile and finally saw her smile back.

Rick stayed behind long enough to hear Liara to ask her to get on the bed so they could get started.

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At first Rick went his cabin to wait. However, he was there only a few minutes then went across to the command room. He had to press his palm against the panel to get it to open. Then it hit him. How did they get his palm print to allow him access to this room? Was their scanning ability actually that good? He'd only been there for a little while and hadn't really touched all that much.

Stepping into the room he found there were four of them in here. He also noticed for the first time that all of them were women. Or at least that was what they looked like.

"Commander, how can we help you?" the one that was at the center table inquired after he entered.

"Kate's undergoing an operation so I thought I should be here," Rick explained.

"Of course, Commander." She went back to the main table.

"Where are the others?" There were ten of them. Two in medical and four were here. That left four more somewhere else.

"The fabrication room. We need to fabricate a new power conduit for our cloaking device. It is imperative that this outpost remain unseen."

"What is your name, please?" Rick needed to get them straight if they were going to stay here long.

"I am Nassana Dantius, Commander."

"May I ask what is a few levels down." Rick kicked himself for not keeping track just where they'd been at the time. "The corridor was short and it looked like what was beyond the door was two floors tall."

"One door leads to our fabrication shop where we are making a power conduit. The other is a small landing bay. It is presently empty of any ships," Nassana answered. Then suddenly Rick saw it in 3D on the table in front of both of them.

"So you could have ships?" Rick wondered if the Iconians had left, using all of them.

"We have little need for ships, Commander. Though a shuttle may come in handy from time to time. Something about the size of the fighter on your ship, more or less."

Rick looked at the empty bay and the size of the fabrication area. Why a fabrication area needed an airlock escaped him but it wasn't technically his outpost. He hadn't designed and built it.

"Could you design and make a ship? Say something like my fighter?" Rick inquired, not really sure just where he wanted to go with this.

"Of course, Commander. It may take a year or so but one could be built. Your fighter is very antiquated, though. Iconian technology is far superior." Nassana was stating fact, not trying to be insulting.

"No offense taken. …So if I did order that a fighter be built it wouldn't start until after your power conduit was finished and installed?" Rick questioned her.

"Correct, Commander. Remaining unseen is the only defense this outpost has. That supersedes any order you could give." He might be in overall command but he had limitations.

"So say for sake of argument that you were to design a fighter. Just what could it be capable of doing?" Rick was actually starting to get an idea if it was as advanced as he was thinking.

"Well, it would have energy shielding though the hull would be made of cast rodinium. There could be two or more fixed weaponry or it could be top mounted on a turret. Its primary weaponry would have electro-plasma. A jump drive as well as a cloaking device. As for a power source–" Nassana was interrupted.

"Wait, wait. Jump drive?" Rick hadn't heard the term before.

"A jump drive allows a ship to be instantaneously teleported between two points. All you would need to know is where each point in space is located and free of obstructions like a planet, asteroid, or other matter."

Rick knew he was standing there with his mouth hanging open. "Jump drive, so is energy shielding what I think it is?"

"Energy shielding is ion plasma that is created in plate form and used to surround a ship. It is meant to deflect kinetic items as well as energy weapons like simple lasers for example."

"And what is electro-plasma?" Rick asked her since that was one more thing he'd never heard of before.

Instead of explaining it Nassana decided to just show him since she was at the 3D table. "This is an electro-plasma shot."

Rick saw a ball that had what looked like a solid center with electrical lightning bolts reaching out in the form of an outer ball.

"Depending on the power generated in each device, it is meant to envelope either a small area or an entire ship. A fighter would not be able to generate the power necessary to eliminate an entire ship, however, even a small shot would do considerable damage," Nassana explained then Rick watched as she put up a large Alliance Cruiser and this big ball of lightning struck it and enveloped it. Once that was complete the entire ship turned dark blue then simply vanished.

"Holy shit!" No ship, not even an Alliance ship, had that kind of power.

"You can design and make a fighter that can do something like this with all those items you mentioned?" Rick asked just to make sure.

"Yes, Commander," Nassana agreed. "One would take about a year to complete once we have finished fabricating and installing our power conduit"

"One year for this and one year for a power conduit?" It didn't add up to him. One should be a lot easier than the other.

"We do not have a ship to gather the necessary materials to fabricate our power conduit. As a result we are forced to use a replicator to create the parts we need.

"I am also taking into account the use of your ship to gather the necessary materials to fabricate your fighter." Using his ship would speed everything up.

"So if I used my ship to obtain the material you need it would speed up your fabrication of this power conduit and my fighter?" Rick would do it if he could guarantee that he could get back on board.

"Yes, Commander."

"Great! So what do you need, where do I get it, and how do I bring it back when I can't find you when you're invisible?" Rick was more than willing to help.


	14. Chapter 14

**Firefly**

_Chapter 14_

"If you would allow me to finish, Commander. I mean your help will be useful, however, your ship is not required. We use the Gateway to obtain everything we need. We have no real need for ships," Nassana stated.

"Gateway?" Now what did these people have that everyone else didn't?

"The Gateway is a variation of the jump drive. Though the Gateway is more stable and can remain open for longer periods of time. Think of it as a doorway to somewhere else that still involves instantaneous travel," Nassana tried to explain.

"Perhaps if you saw it in operation you would understand better. …Kalara take my station, please, while I assist the commander." Rick watched as one of the other androids, yet another female, stepped up the table.

"Follow me, Commander." Nassana was already at the door.

They went straight to the elevator. "Gateway deck," Nassana said and they were off.

When they stopped and stepped out Rick found himself in front of the double door they'd left behind so that Kate could get the sex that she needed, thanks to him.

"Place your hand on the plate, Commander."

Rick watched the two doors slide open after he did and the room lit up. What he saw was a massive space that was mostly empty but there were a number of things up against the walls.

Rick walked with Nassana to the far end of the room where she stopped at a pedestal and powered it up. He instantly saw something on the wall next to it light up as well.

"This is the Gateway, Commander."

Rick moved in closer and looked it over. It was thick looking and looked like a device. It was slightly arched. It was easily 9 feet tall in the center. There were columns on either side and the thing was easily 2 feet thick. But if he wanted to walk through the opening, he couldn't. There was a wall which Rick took to be the outer edge of the outpost. There were two large glowing panels facing each other. "So what does it do?"

"You can travel instantly to anyplace you wish to go that can be scanned. So where would you like to go?" Nassana responded.

"Alliance Military Command and Control room on planet Sihnon." Rick chose the most impossible room he could think of. Suddenly and instantaneously after a moment of time he saw a room that was full of people wearing Alliance military uniforms.

"No way!?" Then suddenly Rick stumbled back. "Can they hear and see me?" They were both dead if they could.

"Negative, Commander. This is simply a viewing. Until we actually create a link no one will be able to step through in either direction." Nassana ended the view of that space.

"And you can go anywhere with this thing and come back?" Rick was totally amazed at this level of technology. He'd never seen or even read about anything like it.

"So long as the space can be scanned we can create a portal, if you will, between both places. Travel, no matter the distance, is instantaneous. It is perfectly safe," Nassana assured him.

"Amazing!" Rick looked around. The space was large though there were a number of things that occupied it. "And these things?" He pointed to one.

"A few are robots meant to be sent through and used to achieve any number of items. Others are meant to contain material that is harmful to organic life. We used the Gateway to obtain the necessary materials to manufacture our power conduit.

"We need a year not just to fabricate the new power conduit but to remove the existing one. Then install the new one and run tests on it to verify it is functioning properly. Part of the challenge is where the power conduit is located while maintaining our cloaking device as best we can," Nassana explained.

"Go anywhere instantly." Rick was still amazed.

"Will there be anything else, Commander?" Nassana had other things she needed to be doing.

"Where's the airlock to my ship located?" He had yet to find it.

"One level above the medical deck," Nassana said. "There is one on each side. Airlocks are only used in emergencies. The Gateway is the primary means of travel. Secondary would be using a small shuttle that would land in the landing bay."

"And you don't have a problem with me being in command of this outpost?" Rick still really didn't get it.

"We are androids, Commander. It is our duty to obey the orders of the organics. You may not be our original commander, however, per Iconian law, a direct descendant of our commander is now in charge. You simply need time to become comfortable with your new command. That is what we are here for."

It didn't make any sense to Rick, but if this was how it worked he would go with it.

"Command room. I have a question." Rick strode to the elevator after opening the door to get back out first.

Rick even lead the way to the command room and went straight to the main table.

"Show me a list of materials you'll need to create the fighter I'm interested in," Rick asked and was taken to one of the side panels.

Rick sat down while Nassana manipulated the controls. "Here is the list, Commander." She left him and went back to the main table.

It allowed Rick to sit there and read the list. He immediately recognized one of them on the list. Then he looked down at the controls and worked out how much in the form of percentages they would need of each material.

Rick put his finger on one of them. "I know this one. Nassana?"

"Commander?" She was right behind him.

"I know most of these. This one in particular is being mined as raw ore by a friend of mine. I even know of at least one processing plant that converts the raw ore into a more refined material. If I could talk to him he might know where other items on this list are located." Rick looked up at her.

"Refined material would be very beneficial. We would not have to spend time processing the raw ore. As for talking to him that will not be permissible. This outpost must remain undetected at all times." Nassana was sure she had made that clear to him.

"Broadcast communication, I agree. What about using that Gateway of yours? Scan him then just walk through and talk to him. That wouldn't violate any of those rules would it?" Rick had an idea.

"You are correct, Commander, it would not. We can scan for him at any time of your choosing," Nassana offered.

Rick was quite happy with that and he was interested in his fighter. It was just that they didn't even have a design for one yet.

"Would you please begin work on a design for this fighter? Perhaps get a more detailed list of the materials you would need?" Rick asked her.

"Of course, Commander. We can start immediately. May I ask what a potential target is so that your fighter is not under powered?" Nassana was interested in parameters for his fighter.

"Per Iconian law slavery is forbidden, correct?" Rick started there.

"Correct, Commander. I believe that is why the female is undergoing an operation at this time," Nassana pointed out.

"Her name is Kate, please. …Are you aware there was a war fought recently between the Alliance and the Browns?" Rick queried.

"Of course, Commander. We monitored every aspect of the battle that we could. We needed to make sure that this outpost was not detected during the conflict," Nassana confirmed.

"The war was fought because the Alliance was treating the outer planets as slaves to the core planets. After the Browns lost it became worse. They took out their frustrations of the war on those same planets.

"Maybe one fighter isn't enough to win the war. Though maybe it will be enough to gain a better result. At least less slavery if not eliminating it altogether," Rick explained. "Try and gain better terms for the planets outside of the core."

"You require a fighter to defeat one or more Alliance cruisers in a single battle then repeat that over and over again. I believe I understand. I will adjust the parameters of your fighter to achieve the results you require," Nassana informed him.

"You'll do it?" Rick was actually a little shocked.

"So long as this outpost location is not given away, you are our commander. We will construct your fighter to try and obtain the result you require," Nassana assured him.

"Thanks!" Rick was amazed yet again. "I believe I will go check on Kate. We can discuss scanning for my friend later."

"As you wish, Commander. One of us will start the design for your fighter immediately. I'm am sure Kate will be fine. Liara is highly skilled when it comes to organics." Nassana had faith in Liara's skills.

"What about you and the other androids? Surely you have someone who can repair you as well?" He wasn't going to achieve anything here without them.

"Each of us in capable of repairing any of us. Including Liara." He didn't need to worry about them.

"So why only 10 of you? I get that this outpost isn't all that big, but why just 10?" Rick was curious.

"The organics are in command of this outpost. We are only here to support them. Given the size of this outpost 10 was all that was required." The organics had made that decision.

"I see. Well, I require more than just 10 of you. So talk to the others then inform me what it takes to make more of you. Ten isn't enough," Rick said.

"As you require, Commander." Nassana was still watching him as he left the command room and headed for medical. "Interesting."

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick walked into the medical bay and saw Kate still on a bed with Liara and the other one; he forgot her name and kicked himself for it. He really needed to learn all their names and commit them to memory.

However it wasn't difficult to tell that they weren't done yet. There really wasn't any waiting room that he could see. So he could lie down on the other diagnostic bed, sit down at her work desk, or go to his cabin.

Rick chose the latter so as not to get in the way. He went to what looked like a work desk and sat down. Since he could read everything now it wasn't so hard to turn everything on, including the large screen behind him.

He really wasn't sure just what he was looking for so it was more hit or miss than anything. Then he decided on something. Floor plans of the outpost he was in. It even gave him what each room was.

Each room looked to be designed to hold only 2 people. Every room was a suite. A small living area, bedroom, and bathroom. His was simply twice as big as any of the others. It looked like only his space had a dining room and a replicator for food.

Based on 2 per room there was space for 28 people while he couldn't find rooms for the androids. Maybe they didn't really need one but he made a mental note to ask if they did. They certainly had room for each of them to have their own room.

He found an entire level directly under the control deck that he didn't remember ever seeing. Though to be honest they had started on the medical deck and went down. It turned out to be all computer core. He couldn't help but wonder just how big this computer was and what it was capable of. For them to be this advanced he was thinking that the computer had to be far more advanced as well. Yet if it was this big physically just what was it capable of?

"Maybe it needs to be to make that Gateway work," Rick said to himself.

Next level down had him opening his eyes wide. It was a park as far as he could tell. Since only androids remained he wondered if they'd let it die or if it was all still alive? He decided to wait until Kate was better to go see it.

Next level down looked to be a lounge area, a game room, and a theater room. "I wonder if they have the latest movies or are they all 200,000-year-old Iconian movies?" Rick said to himself again.

After that it was all rooms they'd already seen. He did, however, see where the access doors to the corridor that led to his ship were located. So he now knew how to reach his ship if he wanted.

That gave him an idea. But instead of going across the hall he worked at how to talk to the control room from here.

He knew Nassana was likely back there but he didn't know for certain. "Hello?" Rick knew it was weak but what else was he supposed to do?

"Commander, how can we help you?" someone answered.

"I have several food packets on my ship. Is there a way for the replicator system learn how to make them?" Rick asked whoever it was that answered him.

"Of course, Commander. Just retrieve one of each, place it in the device, and activate the system. It will scan it and signal when it is complete. Then you will be able to input a name so you can recall it later. Keep in mind that even after it is scanned there will be small errors if you try and recreate it using the replicator."

"Excellent." Like Kate, Rick wasn't sure just what they had been eating.

"Is there anything else Commander?" Rick is asked.

"I noticed we have a cafeteria with what looks like a kitchen to cook real food in. Does that system still work and how do we accomplish that?" Something besides replicated food might be better.

"All systems on the outpost are operational. To restart the kitchen you will need all the material to do cooking with. All of the cooking utensils are still there, however all of the food was disposed of 199,999.5 years ago after all of the organics left the station."

That told Rick he had one more problem to solve. How to get fresh food here and from where?

"Thank you that will do for now," Rick told whoever it was.

"My pleasure, Commander."

"Wait, wait." Rick had one more thing he wanted to ask about.

"Yes, Commander?" She was still there.

"Do you and the other androids have a place to stay? All I can find are rooms meant for the organics, as you call them. I wanted you to know that each of you can select a room and make it yours. Have a place to retreat to if you need."

"I understand, Commander. I will inform the others of your decision."

"That's all thank you." Rick ended the communication and didn't see the androids in the control room looking at each other.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

He really wasn't sure just one lone fighter was going to do. A jump drive suggested it could bounce around all over the place. One of the questions he thought of was could the fighter attack while still being invisible. If it could do that his little fighter just might manage to do more than he was thinking. He hoped for a lot.

Typing in one single word, _Alliance_, got him a large number of subtopics. He was amazed that this place knew so much about the Alliance. Then he typed in _Browns_ and got an almost equal number of subtopics. This place knew almost as much about the Browns as they did the Alliance.

He leaned back. Knowing just what to do was almost more than he could imagine. To get the Alliance to come to the table and create a new deal, what did he attack?

Just who was going to be at that table? How long was it going to take? What if they took it out on the planets and made things worse before he could get them to concede to a new deal. He already had thousands of souls haunting him. He wasn't sure he could handle more.

A voice he guessed was Niara's sounded off suddenly. "Commander, our operation is complete. The female, Kate, is resting comfortably. She is sleeping though you may visit her if you wish."

Rick didn't bother replying. He was up, leaving everything on, out his door, and down to the medical deck.

Walking in he found Liara at her desk and Kate still on the medical bed. He went to Kate first. She was dressed in a gown instead of her clothes. Her hands were wrapped except for her finger tips.

Rick didn't dare touch her hands but he did have a few questions. "Did it work?" He looked up and watched as Liara gracefully got up and joined him.

"We need to monitor her Fallopian tubes to make sure that they do not collapse. However, they should not. As for her hands, we have removed the material, repaired the burns, and injected a chemical that will help her system repair her hands. In a few weeks she will be back and we will cover her hands with new skin that has been grown specifically for her from her DNA.

"At that time we will also verify that all of her hand functions are still viable. If not we will need to do another operation to try and recover those functions. She is lucky that her hands worked as well as they did. The people that did this did considerable damage to her hands," Liara informed him.

"She will sleep for a few more hours. Her hands will be uncomfortable for several days. But eventually no one will ever know that anything was done to her hands."

"Thank you!" Rick felt tears well up and if he thought he could get away with it he would hug Liara and kiss her cheek for this.

"I am happy to help, Commander." Liara turned to go back to her desk.

"Liara, you said slavery is not allowed in Iconian law."

"Correct, Commander."

"Yet you, please forgive me if I'm wrong, but you act like you're slaves since I've been here," Rick mentioned.

"We are androids, Commander. Anti-slavery laws do not apply to us in Inconian law. We are constructs," Liara replied.

"That's going to change," Rick said. "Life is life. If you were a Brown you would understand that. We fought to prevent slavery for everyone. To prevent the Alliance core planets from feeding off of the other planets. The Alliance effectively made slaves of everyone outside of the core planets. I'm not going to sit here and allow you to think of yourselves like slaves.

"You call me Commander and yet I couldn't run this place without you. I barely understand even a fraction of the technology this place has.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're not slaves to me and never will be. So what I need for you and the others to do is decide how you want to be treated from here on out.

"Nassana was very helpful and you've been very kind since we're arrived. I'm sure each of you are still doing the jobs you've been doing for the last 200,000 years. What I want each of you to do is decide how you want to be treated that doesn't make it sound like you're slaves.

"Is that simple enough?" They could work out the details after they came to terms with what Rick wanted.

"Yes, Commander. Thank you, Commander. We will discuss your wish," Liara informed him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Firefly**

_Chapter 15_

Rick came out of the shower naked and saw Kate was asleep again.

Kate had finally woken up in the medical bay and had smiled when the first thing she'd seen was his face. Next she had looked at her hands and found them to be all wrapped up. Rick had told her that her tattoos were gone, however, she had really wanted to see them. She was just one step away from not being a slave any longer. One step closer to be a married woman.

Kate didn't get why but just getting from medical to their room had tired her out and she was asleep almost instantly when her head hit her pillow. Since he had been up most of the day, unlike Kate, he got into bed and pulled her in close to him so he could sleep.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick snapped his eyes open for some reason. He began to smile since Kate was naked and right next to him. "Stop that!" Rick freed his hands and grabbed hers. "No scratching!" It had been one of Liara's comments when they had left medical.

"They itch," Kate complained. They burned, they itched, she was totally uncomfortable.

"If you keep scratching you'll do damage and end up with another operation or permanently lose feeling on the back of your hands. So stop!" Rick pulled her hands down to his chest and held them there.

"Did it work?" Kate asked him since she wasn't so sleepy any longer. Anything prior to now felt like a dream. She wasn't sure just what she'd been told.

"Liara said the material was removed and she'd repaired the burns. She said she was growing skin for your hands. They should eventually look like you've never had tattoos at all." Rick was happy for her.

That had Kate smiling. "I can't wait." She meant it, too. She didn't want to wait a week or longer. She didn't even want to wait for tomorrow. She wanted it to work today.

Kate took her hands from Rick's chest and looked at them. "How am I going to touch you?" She liked touching his skin with her hands. The feel of his hard cock. The sound of him moaning while she played with his cock.

"How am I going to eat?" All she could see was her fingertips.

"I can hand-feed you," Rick offered, his smile a wide one since he could picture it now. "Or not." He saw the look Kate was giving him.

"Unless it's finger food you may not have much choice." Rick didn't see her holding onto any utensil to feed herself. "Besides itchy hands how do you feel?"

"Fine, maybe a little hungry actually." Kate looked at her hands after that yet again and groaned. Even finger food was going to get her bandages messy.

"I need to pee," Kate suddenly noticed and got off the bed while trying not to use her hands.

She was back a moment later. "They removed my tag!" Her tag did at least two things. She couldn't get separated from Rick and losing him would kill her. However, her tag also kept hitting her clitoris and combined with her drug she loved all the sex she was getting.

"If you're no longer a slave you don't need it. A wife should know how to reach her husband if she gets lost or he how to find her," Rick argued. "Besides wearing a tag is a slave thing and you're no longer a slave."

Kate's smile threatened to break her face wide open as she walked up to Rick and put her arms around his neck. Then she saw her bandages. Kate lost her smile. "I don't even have fingers to put a ring on to."

"We'll get there, have a little faith. …Now are you ready to let me feed you?" Rick was smiling wide.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate was full even if she was totally embarrassed about letting Rick hand-feed her. They were to never discuss this with anyone for as long as they both lived.

"Where are we going?" Rick was being mysterious about something and not answering her questions.

"You'll see. This is the biggest thing I've ever seen in my life." Rick still just wasn't sure what to do with it.

Kate followed him out the elevator into a small space that had stairs going up only and a pair of double doors. She watched him place his hand on a panel and the doors open. Inside there was a large room with a number of things around the edge. Kate followed him over to one of the androids

"nassanna, thanks for joining us. I need you to explain the Gateway to Kate for me, please. Perhaps include a demonstration?" Rick asked her.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate had listened and watched and was still standing there with her mouth hanging open. If she understood it correctly it was like walking though a door and ending up literally anywhere you wanted to go. She was next to Rick and standing right in front of what she was seeing and even started to reach out to touch it but pulled her wrapped hand back. "Anywhere?" Kate looked the entire Gateway over yet again then turned to look at Nassanna.

"If the site can be scanned it can be anywhere. Though even our scanning system has limitations," Nassanna explained since anywhere wasn't literally _anywhere_.

"So what are we looking for?" Kate questioned as she stepped back after Nassanna killed the view but didn't leave.

"Well while you were undergoing an operation I did some research and found that these guys, or gals, really, are capable of building a very advanced fighter even though it might take a couple of years before it's ready. I was thinking that if I used the fighter and started attacking Alliance warships, I might be able to force them to the table and get better terms for all the planets outside of the Core planets. It might be a dream but it also just might work," Rick said excitedly.

"So you want to use this thing to bring people here to do that?" Kate inquired, if she understood this thing correctly.

"No, that would be a violation of their this-place-must-remain-unseen law. Too many people that I don't trust would mean we could possibly end up being spotted. Besides we only have space for the one fighter." Rick beat Nassanna to it and nixed that idea.

"So what do we use it for?" Kate couldn't think of anything.

"A couple of things come to mind. One the kitchen still works but all of the food's gone. We just need to figure out how and where to buy more so we can turn the kitchen back on. Another is that in order to make my fighter we need material. They used the Gateway to get the material for their power conduit that they're working on that I haven't actually seen yet. What I need is where to get the material from," Rick explained.

Kate knew she couldn't help him with his fighter. She didn't know the first thing about them. Though she did know how to cook. However…, "Why do we need the kitchen? We have that thing in our room."

"Because I'm thinking of adding Frankie and Liz to the party. Frankie knows how to fly a fighter and I don't. Liz knows tactics and I don't. I was just a sniper. Basically a stupid grunt that had a skill." A skill that got him all the ghosts that he believed haunted him.

Kate walked over to him and thanks to her hands she decided not to hug him but she could press herself against him. "You're not stupid and I love the idea of Frankie and Liz living here." Kate looked up at him. She didn't know how he did it but she loved him even more.

"Can we do it now?" She liked Liz and she had a lot to tell her now.

"I was thinking of waiting until your hands were better and that we had the food to feed them with," Rick contended.

"They have food. Liz cooks and she taught me a little while I was there. Why wait? Can't we just do it now? Have them empty their kitchen and bring anything else," Kate wheedled.

"We do have spare rooms and I could use the help," Rick agreed. "Nassanna, can you scan for Neutronium out here in the belt? It will be in a zone of artificial suns and have a number of atmospheric devices as well as moisture capture devices. There should be only two humans on the planet." Rick gave her all he could short of going to his ship and looking up the coordinates.

"Scanning. …There appear to be a number of places that contain Neutronium. But there is only one that meets the other criteria that you mentioned," Nassanna reported.

Rick saw the Gateway start to blink then settle in on a site that had a massive old rusty building and two domes.

"That's the place. Where are Frankie and Liz?" He needed to know just where they were.

Suddenly they were inside one of the domes and he saw both of them sitting at a table eating.

"How long does this remain open and if we go through how do we get back?" Rick queried since he didn't know exactly how this thing worked. If it was one way, that would be a problem. Yet they had stated that they had used it to gather the materials they needed for their power conduit.

"You have 6 hours, Commander, and once you go through you and they will be able to see the Gateway and step through. There is one thing to consider. Personal weapons on this outpost are not permitted and you cannot counter that order," Nassanna informed him.

"Six hours, should be enough time. Provided we don't spend all of it explaining how we got there and why they see what they do." Rick reached for Kate's hand. But Kate didn't take it since her hands were still bandaged. Instead Rick put out his elbow and waited for Kate to link her arm with his.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Frankie panicked for a moment while Liz whipped out both of her weapons at the two of them. "Christ, Rodgers! You trying to give me a heart attack?" Frankie slapped his hand over his heart and willed it to slow down.

"I damn near shot you two!" Liz put her weapons away.

"So what brings you back anyway?" He didn't have much worth them taking. "And what _is _ that behind you?" Frankie finally saw something beyond the two of them that didn't make any sense.

Rick grinned. "We sort of found something and gained some new friends."

Kate added her voice. "We want you two to join us. It's nice."

"Join you at what?" Frankie wasn't following though he was still trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Maybe we should just show you," Rick offered. "Follow us, it's perfectly safe."

Soon Frankie and Liz were next to them. "No weapons, you two. That's one of the rules." Rick motioned for Liz to get rid of hers and waited for her to put them on the table and rejoin them.

"This way." Rick and Kate walked through then turned and waited for Frankie and Liz to join them.

"How, what, where, what the hell is going on?" Frankie sputtered after stepping through with his wife into the Gateway room.

Then they both spotted Nassanna. "That's Nassanna. She's one of the androids that man this outpost. Nassanna, these are my friends, Frankie and Liz."

"Android?" She looked more alien, real alien to Frankie than an android, but whatever.

"We should show you a couple of things. You can kill the Gateway, Nassanna, just don't leave, we'll be back soon," Rick said.

Frankie and Liz watched as the view of their dome vanished. "I will be here, Commander." nassanna confirmed.

"Commander?" Frankie turned on Rick.

"Part of a really long story. Come on, I have something to show you. Even Kate hasn't seen this yet. For that matter neither have I." He hadn't looked yet so this was going to be a surprise for him, too.

Rick took them out of the room and into the elevator. "Park," Rick said and the elevator began moving. The second they arrived and the door opened they were all shocked at what they saw. There was green grass, plants, dwarf trees, and even a small pond in front of them. "HOLY SHIT!" Frankie walked out with his wife right behind him. Even Rick and Kate walked out with their mouths hanging open. The air here didn't feel filtered. It smelled like live evergreens.

"Where are we?" Frankie had no idea. No Brown base of any type that he knew anything about had this.

"This is an Iconian outpost," Rick told him.

"A _who_ outpost?" Frankie had never heard that name before.

"Ready for a long explanation?" Rick knew this was going to take a while.

"More than ready," Frankie said since none of this made any sense to him. How they had gotten here? Just where here was? Why that alien called Rick, Commander? You name it, he was ready.

Liz, however, had spotted something else. "Kate! Your hands!" Liz was ready to reach out to hold them but if they were all wrapped up it was for a reason and she didn't want to hurt her.

"They removed my tattoos. I'm not a slave any longer." Kate smiled a bright smile and tears trailed down her face. She had someone to celebrate it with besides Rick and that meant a lot to her.

"They? Just who are they? Are you sure they're gone?" Liz asked her.

"Well, they said they did. I haven't seen what's under the bandages yet but I'm supposed to go back to have my hands looked at tomorrow. They do itch like mad, though." Kate was using all the will power she had to not scratch them even if rubbing them under her armpits when she had hid them that one time was something she'd done.

"They?" Liz tried again.

"Let's walk," Rick suggested since he wanted to see what was here while they talked.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Frankie and Liz had seen the kitchen and what could be their room if they approved. Right now all four were sitting at their dining room table after going back and watching the Gateway open up and showing it to them.

Rick took a deep breath. He was desperate for them to join him. "I have a plan and I need both of you to help. They have technology that the Alliance has never heard of, let alone have. There's only room for one but I think it might work. Eventually."

"It will take about 2 years but they can build a fighter, but not just any fighter. It will have energy shields, a jump engine that they say can cause the fighter to jump from place to place so long as that space can be scanned first. It will also have the same cloaking device that hides the outpost and weapons that can take out an Alliance cruiser in a few shots. Or at least it sounds like it can.

"It may take some time but maybe if they lose enough ships we can bring them to the table and negotiate a better deal for the planets. We might even be able to attack the core planets directly. Stir up the population and get them to force them to accept a new deal."

"You realize that the Alliance has a great many ships. There have to be 26 or more in this quadrant alone and that doesn't include fighters." Frankie wasn't so sure of this plan of his. Then he reminded him of the ship classes the Alliance had. "At least one will be a Crete Class."

Heavy ships

1\. Crete Class – 10,000,000 tons

2\. Tohoku Class – 5,500,000 tons

Medium ships

1\. Longbow Class – 640,000 tons

2\. Ocula Class – 48,000 tons

3\. Trebuchet Class – 190,000 tons

4\. Victoria Class – 80,000 tons

Light ships

1\. Alliance Landing Ship for Tanks – 750 tons

2\. Alliance Patrol and Enforcement Cutter – 390 tons

3\. Alliance Patrol Boat – 3,955 tons

4\. Alliance Short Range Enforcement Vessel – 40 tons

5\. Arrowhead Class – 400 tons

Fighters and bombers

1\. Alliance Fast Attack Ship – 25 tons

2\. Alliance gunship – ? tons

3\. Alliance skiff – ? tons

4\. A.V.-Sparrow – ? tons

5\. Foxbat Class – 100 tons

6\. Warhammer Interceptor – 15 tons

Rick was aware of that but was undaunted. "They've talked about the fighter having 3 different control interfaces. One is the obvious: someone mans it and works the controls. Which is where you come in. Another is a remote control system using the Gateway to keep track of it while flying it from the control room that you haven't seen yet, which is still where you come in. Or the fighter is flown by a computer program.

"What needs to be maintained is the invisibility of this outpost. They may call me commander and I'll be in command but there are limitations."

"And exactly how is it that you are suddenly their commander?" Frankie was dying to hear this.

"Two hundred thousand years ago the organics left this outpost for parts unknown that I haven't questioned them about just yet. However, they have proven to me and Kate that I have an ancestral connection to their 200,000-year-old Iconian commander. They called it interbreeding. A few humans will have Iconian blood lines. In my case it was the commander of this outpost before he left. According to Inconian law that makes me their new commander. And as strange as it sounds so far they have treated me as if I am their commander." Rick could hardly believe it himself.

"And you believe all this?" Liz looked at Kate to see if she agreed to all this.

"They fixed my hands." Kate raised her hands. "Granted I haven't seen them yet but I don't think they've lied."

"There's one more thing. According to Iconian law slavery is not allowed. So fixing Kate's hands puts her more in line with Iconian law," Rick informed both of them.

"They have technologies that the Alliance doesn't have. The androids in this outpost have been here for over 200,000 years. They expect to be here and viable for another 200,000 years.

"While I haven't seen it yet the main power source is in the middle of this outpost and I can attest to the fact that there is indeed something in the middle."

Frankie studied his friend's face. "For sake of argument say I believe you. Where do we come into this, besides you wanting someone to pilot this fighter of yours that hasn't even been built yet and won't be completed for another 2 years?"

"You have contacts in the Browns that I don't have and can't. If this works and the Alliance wants to talk about a ceasefire since they haven't killed anyone that's attacking them, I will be up to someone to talk to them. Liz knows tactics and you both know people willing to negotiate a new deal. I just have an overall plan. I need her to make it work using my one and only fighter.

"And they need preferably refined material to make my fighter. Raw ore like you have will work but take more time. Again, you two have contacts that I don't. So what do you think?" Rick was hoping they would help him with this.

Kate added her 2 cents. "Please. It's just Rick and me. And I need someone to attend the wedding." Kate wanted someone to be there and Liz was the best friend she had. Almost the only friend she had actually, as sad as that suddenly sounded to her.

"**Married?**" Liz looked at Kate.

"**Married?**" Frankie looked at Rick.

Both Rick and Kate had huge grins.


	16. Chapter 16

**Firefly**

_Chapter 16_

Frankie and Liz were busy putting their food into crates and sending it through the Gateway which would eventually make it to the kitchen. Rick was helping to move the crates.

Kate was doing what she thought she could which was going to the kitchen and making sure refrigerators and freezers were operational and ready for the food that was coming. She found the only way she could do that was to use both hands since her hands were all wrapped up.

Going back down to the Gateway she saw crates on the floor and Rick coming through to drop off another one. "The kitchen's ready," Kate said as he waved and went back to get another one.

Kate had no idea just how much was coming here so she walked over to Nassana. "Is there a chance we could get some help? Get these up to the kitchen?" Kate asked as Nassana monitored the Gateway and made sure it remained active.

Kate heard the doors open and saw two more female androids walk in. Each easily picked up a crate and walked out, leaving the doors open.

"Thank you." Kate smiled at Nassana who kept monitoring the Gateway.

Rick finally noticed he was falling behind. Not that Frankie and Liz were loading crates too fast for him, but that the Gateway deck was getting empty and he knew it wasn't Kate doing it.

They were still at it. "One hour remains, Commander," Nassana announced and Rick noticed that the Gateway deck was now empty. It probably meant the cafeteria room was filled with crates but at least they were out of here.

The next things through were the four crates Frankie had containing Neutronium ore that he had mined.

"All done for now, Nassana. You can kill the Gateway," Rick said tiredly. "These crates contain Neutronium ore so if you could have someone come get them, please? We're going to go load the kitchen with everything." The job with getting it all here was done. Now they had to get it back out of the crates.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick, Frankie, and Liz were spread out on chairs in the cafeteria. It had taken hours to get all the food they had from their moon to here. Yet they still weren't done. They had to move their clothes out of crates and into their cabin that they were now going to call home. However, they were dead tired.

"You think it'll work?" Rick sat forward a little and used the table he was at to provide support.

"The idea's sound," Liz stated though she didn't move an inch. "The trick is finding their ships and destroying them. What we could really use are the locations of their spaceship factories which are all at their core planets. This is going to take some time. What we can't do is to ask them to come to the table too soon. They may decide to start using the population of planets as target practice and tell us unless we stop they will kill even more."

"Yeah, I was kinda afraid you would say that." Rick let his head rest on the table just as Kate walked in to see three very tired people.

Kate ran her fingertips through Rick's hair. "You okay?"

"Just tired," Rick told the table and didn't move.

"We need to go to medical. Liara said I should come back before the end of the day and I'm hungry, too," Kate said as she gently ran her fingertips down his back. Rick groaned but he got up to take her to medical. Kate hadn't meant for Frankie and Liz to come with them but they did.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Kate, let me take a look at your hands and rewrap them. Sit on the bed for me." Liara ignored the others for now. They weren't her patients, only Kate was. Liara physically cut the old school bandages off of her hands. "Do not panic when you see your hands." Liara worked at removing the last of them.

Kate couldn't help it. She yelped when she saw her hands. They were red and angry-looking. The tattoos were indeed gone but her hands looked terrible.

"Relax, take deep breaths." Liara picked up a hand unit this time, ran it over her hands, then did it again.

"I find no signs of the material so that is all gone. The burns they did to create a cavity to apply the material to are severe. I find no damage to the bones in your hand. Your tendons that control your fingers are all healthy.

"However, what you are missing in the area of the burns are nerve endings. Those once your hands start to heal and we apply new skin over your hands the nerve endings should mostly regrow. Though there will be a few areas where they may not.

"I find no signs of infection. Are you not scratching at them like I told you?" Liara challenged her.

Kate wanted to say yes, but Rick was standing right there making the same face she likely was as she looked at her hands. Kate relented and told her that she had been scratching from time to time.

"I am going to have to do something to prevent you from scratching your hands. The more you scratch the more likely it is that your already damaged nerve endings will not recover. Stay right here." Liara left her to gather the materials she was going to need now.

Kate expected Rick take her hands in his. But it turned out to be Liz.

Liz saw the outlines of where her tattoos used to be. Her hands were indeed ugly-looking. "They'll get better. Maybe just a few scars," Liz said and made way when Liara returned.

Kate watched Liara and saw her do everything.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"There, that should stimulate growth which is going to be itchy. However, I have forgone the use of bandages alone this time. These," Liara tapped them to show just how hard and stiff they were, "are meant to keep you from scratching your hands. I will need to saw these off when you come back. I expect to see you in three days.

"Now lie back for me and I can run a scan on your new Fallopian tubes." Liara patted the bed and waited for Kate to comply.

"Fallopian tubes?" Liz questioned since she had never heard of this before.

"When they made her a slave they removed them," Rick whispered.

"BASTARDS!" Liz whispered a little louder. Liz was now seriously onboard with attacking the Alliance. The Alliance needed to make changes to how they treated the other planets.

Yes, that final fight that they'd lost had cost the Alliance a lot of ground personnel though the Browns had, in the end, lost. Leaving them almost completely with no ground units.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate was walking out of medical with Rick who had an arm around her along with Frankie and Liz.

"Come on, I'll cook. I need to learn how to use this fancy kitchen eventually. Might as well start now. While I cook my husband can set up his precious homemade beer equipment somewhere," Liz offered.

"Yes!" Frankie was all for that. "Last month was a good month."

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick and Frankie were sitting in the cafeteria drinking a bottle of Frankie's beer and watching Liz working in the kitchen.

"You want me to hold your beer for you?" Rick watched as Kate was using two hands to try and hold her beer bottle. She couldn't even bend her fingers with what she was wearing now.

"NO!" Kate managed to hook her two thumbs and lift the bottle. She drank some of it, decided once was enough, and set her bottle down, leaving it there. Apparently she wasn't a fan of alcohol.

"Marriage," Frankie commented. "It'll do wonders for you, Rodgers. Give you someone to focus on instead of worrying about people you mistakenly think are dead because of you. Admiral Kona was an ass and you know it. It was a trap, we just don't know what the trap was," Frankie argued again. "If there was ever anyone who deserved to die, it was him."

Rick didn't say a thing. He would like to believe him, but he didn't.

"So who's going to be at this wedding? Just the two of us?" Frankie questioned them both.

"You're the only two people I know." Kate said.

"The outpost has to remain hidden. We violate it and we're all out." Rick didn't know that for a fact but he was betting on it.

"So where's your ship?" Frankie queried, hoping that he hadn't gotten rid of it.

"I haven't looked or asked but it should still be attached to one of the two airlocks," Rick answered and thought about it. Not being spotted was obviously paramount here. Having a ship attached to the side might destroy that.

"Be right back." Rick got up and walked quickly to the access corridor that led to his ship.

Liz had heard everything while she cooked. "Where are your parents? Can we bring them or at least go there maybe?"

Kate sat up straight since she'd forgotten all about her parents. "I don't know. Last time I saw them was when they sold me. They should still be in the same place, I suppose."

"Maybe that Gateway thing can find them," Frankie suggested since it seemed to be really powerful.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Liz had to stay behind so dinner didn't burn and Frankie stayed with her. That left Rick and Kate going to the Gateway then waiting for someone to work the device.

Rick was standing there and watching Zillah work while Kate was pacing back and forth until that changed to pacing round and round.

"Nothing?" Rick asked which had Kate joining him to find out what was going on.

"I have the parameters you provided though I am unable to located the individuals you are talking about. It is possible that your view of them is incorrect. It is possible that they have changed too much over time between then and now." She kept trying but was getting nowhere.

"It is also possible that they no longer live. This device is not capable of searching for data that would tell us if that has happened. It is most likely that they have changed enough that they do not match what you remember and have been able to portray to me." She stopped working. "I am sorry, you are going to have to think of something else." Zillah left them standing there.

Kate stood there, staring at this thing. It had gotten her Frankie and Liz, why not her parents?

Rick heard her crying. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and held her tight. "Why!?" Kate tried using her hands to wipe away her tears but thanks to her new bandages she couldn't even do that.

"We'll think of something. Maybe Frankie or Liz can do a search for records about them." Rick wasn't sure he should do it since if he was recognized it might lead to trouble for him. "It's just our first attempt. We'll think of something."

Rick gently turned her so he could wipe away her tears for her then kiss her. "Come on, we need to eat something. You're going to need the energy if you want to try and keep up with me tonight." Rick grinned at her then nipped her earlobe.

It was just what Kate needed and got her to smile. She knew Rick was talking about sex and she found she was really interested in having sex with him again.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"So the fancy machine has limitations. Doesn't mean a thing, honey." Liz put an arm around her and hugged her for a second. "My husband would be happy to go there and do a search. Wouldn't you, honey?" Liz wasn't really questioning him nor was she suggesting it.

"I would?" Frankie didn't remember volunteering.

"See, it's all settled. Just as soon as we come up with a plan he can go search for where your parents are now." Liz was glad her husband had seen it her way.

"You sure you want to get married, Rick?" Frankie asked him softly. He was teasing and they both knew it. It was just something for Rick to look forward to.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Frankie and Liz chose to go back to the green park since living where they'd been ever since the war had ended meant they hadn't seen anything like it. It was refreshing and beautiful.

"What do you think?" Frankie wanted to hear her thoughts about all this.

"I think I was right the first time. They're both so hurt and timid that it's almost amazing that they're getting married at all. They wouldn't if not for this place. Thanks to those tattoos Kate was doomed.

"If, however, you mean what they did in that operation, I don't think I've ever been so angry. The mere thought that someone would remove my tubes so I couldn't get pregnant makes me so furious. Tying them so they could be untied is one thing, but to literally remove them and render me forever sterile!" What she wanted to do was kill someone.

"When you go look for her parents I want to look for who did that to her. The doctors, the nurses, that bastard that bought her. Everyone, they need to pay and death is too good for them." Liz didn't want them dead. Dead meant they didn't have to pay like Kate was paying.

"Yeah." Frankie could see that and would do it happily. "I meant this place. Just think, this place has been here for over 200,000 years. Their technology is so far above what we have now 200,000 years later.

"Think about what we were doing 200,000 years ago." Frankie still wasn't sure he believed it.

"I'm still working on how Iconian blood got into ours but only a few families have it. Do you know the odds that Rick would have it AND be the one to find this place." Liz was sure she couldn't formulate just what the odds of that were. "And then that same person finds Kate." It all boggled her mind.

"You really think his fighter plan has a chance?" They were alone now and she could speak freely.

"Destroying their ships alone isn't going to work. They'll just build more and hide their losses from the public. No, the only way this is going to work is if the Core planets feel the heat. I don't mean bombing civilian targets, I mean destroying military targets that the Alliance can't hide. Maybe a few power plants to hurt both military and civilian. Once the privileged civilians start suffering, maybe, just maybe.

"There's an old book from old Earth that no longer exists. Sun Tzu's _R__ules for __W__arfare_. We were doing fine, even with our losses until we got stupid.

"First rule of Sun Tzu. The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. We don't need to destroy all of their ships, we need to destroy their will to fight. Civilians have been and always will be the weak link." Liz knew just what to do.

"A fighter that can't be seen and even if they do it has energy shields in addition to armor. Rodinium, I've never even heard of that material. Then jump in and attack followed by jumping away. We plan this right and they'll never know there's just one attacking fighter that they can't find." Frankie liked that best of all.

Liz smiled. "We attack a major power plant on each of the six core planets on the same day. Do it again a few days later. Eventually they'll pull back their military ships leaving the outer planets lightly defended. Then we attack those ships.

"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity." Liz sported a wide smile. "You think you can fly this fighter, babe?"

"A simulator would be nice. We still have 2 years if I heard correctly." Frankie knew he was going to need to learn how to fly it and a simulator would be necessary. "It's been a while since I've been in any fighter and I'm not as young as I used to be." The young had better reflexes.

Liz stopped and put her arms around his neck. "If they can give Kate new tubes, you think they could untie mine?" Liz thought she was ready, giving where they were living now, even if they hadn't yet spent an entire day here yet.

"Hear the pitter-patter of little feet." Frankie smiled. "And all the crying because he's hungry or has a dirty diaper or doesn't feel good. No more sleeping the night through."

"I'm the one who's going to get as big as a house here," Liz argued.

"We can talk to Rick in the morning." His answer earned him a heartfelt kiss. They could even get in some baby-making practice tonight as they broke in their new bed.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

What Kate wanted to do was take her clothes off so they could have the sex she really needed. Yet she was standing there still fully clothed since her hands were useless. Rick watched her try and undo just one button let alone the others but she failed miserably. He had his shirt off already so he stepped up to take over and slowly undid her buttons.

"You're enjoying this," Kate grumbled since he was taking his time. Thanks to her drug she was more than ready for sex. She wanted him inside her and she wanted it now. "Rick, please!" She'd had enough of being teased.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick's eyes snapped open; he was unsure just what was going on. His first good clue was seeing Kate with his erection in her mouth and that was when he finally felt it.

Rick was moaning then whimpering. Kate was getting really good at this and had obviously learned just when to back off before he climaxed.

"Kate!" Rick was feeling tears starting to run down his face. He really needed for her to finish him off. However instead of doing that she got up and worked at lowering herself down on him.

While Kate knew that she really wanted to slam herself down on him and feel him plunge deep inside her, she feared that would cause him to climax too soon and that wasn't what she wanted. It wasn't what she needed.

After grinding herself on him she suddenly found his hands on her breasts. Then he was rolling her nipples between his fingers and it had her on the brink of an orgasm.

God, but she loved sex. She loved Rick and she loved her drug that caused her to love having sex with him.

Then suddenly he pinched both nipples really hard and it had her screaming out her orgasm.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Last night had been really nice given the fact that she couldn't use her hands; yes, they still itched a little. This morning had also been really nice.

Kate was now lying on her back willing for her heart to slow down.

Rick knew from practice that after all that sex her breasts were just a bit sensitive and she didn't want them touched. However, that didn't mean he couldn't work his way down, put his face between her legs, and start licking.

He could hear her moaning until suddenly that stopped but that was only because Kate had found a way to put his cock in her mouth.

Rick knew just the right spot. Kate couldn't keep her attention on his cock any longer and was whimpering as she was just moments from yet another orgasm.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

This time Kate was now lying on top of Rick as they both slowly recovered from a morning filled with sex.

Kate lifted a hand to look at it which just happened to be her left hand in this case. "Do I have a ring yet?" She was ready to no longer be a slave and be a married woman who had a future.

"Not yet, I'm still working on that. Hopefully by the time you lose these I'll have one to put on your finger." Rick raised a hand to hold hers. "We'll get there."


	17. Chapter 17

**Firefly**

_Chapter 17_

_It is now one year later_

Kate stepped out of the elevator just in time to see Liz go into medical. Kate smiled wide. Her best friend was in the same position she was. Kate put both hands on her belly and walked inside just in time to hear Liara ask her to lie down on the medical bed.

Kate walked up behind Liara. "I'll be right with you, Kate," Liara told her which had Kate cursing internally since she had tried to sneak up behind her.

Kate watched her run the scanner bar across Liz and watched her hand held unit. "You are down six pounds. You are not eating properly. Your baby appears to be perfectly healthy. You can sit up if you like." Liara went to a wall, opened a panel and took something out.

Meanwhile Kate and Liz are smiling at each other since they both had bellies that were going to only get bigger.

Liara was back. "Here are the vitamins I want you to take twice a day. Have you decided on a name yet?" Liara inquired. She asked so she could add it to her file.

Liz shrugged. "Not yet. You told us it's a girl but we haven't agreed on a name."

"Please let me know when you do. Eat just a bit more and keep up your exercises. If I understand your physiology correctly you have approximately three months until the birth of your baby," Liara said.

"You may get down. You are next, Kate." Liara stood there and waited.

Liz got down and Kate hopped up and lay down automatically. They both watched as the scanner bar went across Kate.

"You are within limits of weight, however, you are not taking your vitamins. This is going to force me to give you a shot," Liara warned her which caused Kate to groan. She really didn't like shots. Technically it was nearly painless, yet somehow it was still a giant pole being injected into her arm.

"You are also healthy and so is your baby. Have you decided on a name for your baby boy?" Liara asked for the same reason.

Kate shook her head. "Not yet. We've gotten the list down to James, Caleb, and Eli. We're still talking about it though." They might not end up with any of those names.

"Let me know when you finally decide please." Liara left to go to the same panel and brought back vitamins. "If you do not take these I will be forced to give you another shot.

"You also are roughly three months away from your delivery date. Hopefully you two are not conspiring to have your babies at the same time." She was going to be busy if they were.

"Not intentionally," Kate said.

"You two may go. I expect to see you back here in one month's time." Liara was done with these two.

Kate followed Liz into the elevator and listened to Liz select the Park level so she followed her since she didn't have anything else to do.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"How do you feel?" Liz inquired as they walked a little while.

"Amazing! My hands are all healed." She put them out in front of her. She knew the design that had been on her hands by heart. If she looked close enough she could swear she still saw that design. Only now they were thin white scars.

"I'm not a slave and I'm actually married. And I still have sex with Rick for a couple of hours each day. I want him so badly. I know it's the drug but I'd like to think its because I want him and not because of the drug.

"He's been so kind and I love him." Kate practically glowed.

"I'm happy for you." Liz put an arm around her for a moment and hugged her. "You're just what Rick needed. Anything to help him get rid of his demons."

"I'm glad you're here. It would be a little lonely without you," Kate admitted.

"Well you're stuck with both of us now. I think we're all stuck here for a very long time. I know we have that Gateway but I don't think these androids are going to let us leave. They're so insistent that this place remain undetected." Liz didn't get the dedication but they were really stuck on that.

"You want to leave? Where would you go?" Kate liked it here. Okay maybe it was small but it had what she needed.

"No where, really. I just like having options. Not forced to stay in one place. Our planet was our choice even if it had less that what we have here. It was just there we had choices. I'm not sure we have one here." Liz didn't know how she felt about that.

"Is Rick's idea going to work?" She understood the idea but not why these three were so dedicated to it.

"It actually stands a pretty good chance if we can just agree to let me choose the targets and not get greedy. We need to hit them where they're weak and make sure we hide our weakness." Liz liked it assuming her husband and Rick didn't decided to try and take over.

"Can I help?" Kate didn't know just what they were planning but it meant a lot to Rick so that meant it meant a lot to her.

"I can handle my husband. I may need your help with Rick one day. This may take a year or more likely two. They may both get anxious and want to speed things up. That's where mistakes come in."

"I'll help. I'll tie him to the bed if I have to. Might actually be fun," Kate chuckled.

Liz laughed. Leave it to Kate to think of sex to gain control of her husband. Maybe that drug he'd pumped her full of just might actually work out. She had initially thought it was the height of stupidity, but now? Not so much.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Frankie came out of the simulator and was ready to kick or maybe shoot something. "You are not thinking fast enough or you are pressing the fighter too hard. It will be capable of more than you are apparently thinking," his flight simulator trainer told him.

Frankie groaned. He had jumped in, closed on an Alliance warship, and started firing. Amazingly the damage was more severe after just a few shots. Granted it wasn't one of their bigger ships. However, they did have a lot of these so he was sure to encounter a number of them.

It was just that as he was firing he kept closing and ended up slamming into what was left of it. As a result the computer had activated it self-destruct so that the Alliance couldn't gain access to their technology.

Frankie wasn't getting it and if he couldn't get control over this thing, they were going to have to leave the combat to a computer program created by these androids.

Then he had an idea. "How many jumps can I make and in what amount of time can I make them before resting?"

"Jump from here to your target. Close a little on your target. After that you can jump another eleven times. The eleventh jump will need to be here then enter the landing bay to maintain our invisibility," Zillah said.

"Or you will destroy the fighter after cutting it loose like you did Rick's ship." Frankie was still really mad that they had destroyed Rick's ship.

They had decided that his docking with this outpost had indeed compromised their invisibility so after Rick had removed everything he could, it had been cut loose then destroyed. It was now space dust floating around somewhere. It was too big to fit into the landing bay.

"That is correct. Our remaining undetected is top priority over everything else. Now that our primary conduit has been replaced we no longer run the risk of being detected by your technology," Frankie was told.

It sounded like Zillah was insulting him and his technology. But she was right. Their technology was far superior to theirs.

"I want to try this again. I have an idea." Frankie went back inside. The simulator didn't really move since even under maximum thrust he was never going to feel a thing. He could go around a system's sun and not feel the gravity so his simulator was stationary. It did, however, have all the controls he could expect when they finally finished building the fighter that had only recently started construction.

Based on input from Frankie and Liz they had they had decided to place a spinning turret on the top. It would allow him to fly in one direction yet be able to fire his weapons in a 360 degree range. To fire in a Z axis he would need to move the fighter.

Frankie sat back down and reran the last simulation. This time he jumped in and gave the engines a quick kick before killing them. Then he fired followed by jumping to a new location, firing then jumping yet again, and firing again if necessary.

Then he got a location for another Alliance ship and repeated until his last jump was to come home. Then plugged it in to recharge it before going back out to more targets.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick was sitting in the control room with three other androids as he watched what Frankie was doing on one of the monitors. Rick pounded on the table. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Rick raised his hands in a victory salute.

The fighter was capable of jumping around to reach multiple targets so why not use it that way?

Rick watched the next simulation that was a malfunction which required Frankie to decide what to do to counter the problem without losing the fighter.

Rick was actually thinking they were getting somewhere.

The next simulation was jumping from one target on a planet to another and another before jumping home. It was while he was watching that that he thought up a name for their little fighter.

"Firefly. We're going to call it a Firefly." It seemed perfect for the little fighter.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick went down to the Landing Bay to take a look at what little had been completed, only when he got there he didn't see anything. He had to go into the fabrication shop that was next door to see pieces of it.

"It is Modular Construction, Commander. We build various components then assemble them on the Landing Bay. Once all of those are complete we will fabricate the skin of the fighter. Until then there is not going to be much to see.

"However even then we will have to run it through a series of tests before it can be deployed," Diedra, who was in charge of this project, informed him.

"Rats! I was hoping to see something. Something besides renderings showing me what it will ultimately look like," Rick grumbled.

"Not for several months yet, Commander. We have only just started." Diedra didn't understand why he would expect to see anything.

Rick left there and went looking for his wife. The trick was that their marriage was only recognized by those that had attended it. No planet anywhere would recognize it but that didn't matter to Kate, or so it seemed.

He found her taking a catnap on their bed so he left her alone and went to his work station in the room to do a little research.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick was finding that this place had scanned and studied each and every ship the Alliance had ever launched. They somehow knew each system on each ship and just where each was located. Frankie was going to learn where to fire each and every shot for each Alliance ship. He just had to learn each ship.

What they had was less information on targets on the core planets. Something they needed to rectify if they were going to follow Liz's plan of attack. Rick had his idea of what he wanted to do. However, Liz was arguing for them to let her take command of what targets should be hit and when.

Liz had worked in the Command and Control section. Rick had been a sniper while Frankie had been in overall command of a combined squadron. Air and land assets. Rick just happened to be under his command which was how he got the order to kill that Admiral.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick was still trying to figure out how this place could scan ground targets on the core planets when a pair of very feminine arms wrapped themselves around him from behind. He'd been concentrating so hard he hadn't even noticed her until now.

Next he felt Kate nibbling on his ear. He knew what that meant: Kate wanted sex.

"You're awake," Rick smiled as he stated the obvious. He leaned back in his chair and gave her more access which she immediately took by doing her best to run her hands over his chest.

"You were typing too hard," Kate teased him.

"Typing too hard?" Rick questioned her and teased her back.

"YES! And I can think of better use for those hands of yours. Before you wear them out and become useless to me. Now up, husband of mine. We're having sex." Kate spun his chair around, pulled him up out of it, and over to the bed where she worked at stripping him.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate always felt so much better after having sex with Rick who was now her husband. She was no longer a slave and she'd been sure she was never going to be this happy. Four orgasms later and she was resting naked next to her naked husband.

However, she had a question. "Rick, where's the baby going to sleep?"

Rick thought that was an odd question. "In a crib in our room." Where else was the baby going to sleep? One of them needed to be close by.

"I mean when the baby gets older. We only have the one bedroom and one bed," Kate reminded him.

"Oh." Now he saw what she was thinking about. "I guess I don't know. We have time to figure it out though. Plenty of time." Though he had no idea how to solve that problem at least for now.

While all the sex might not have worn Kate out all that much, Rick was tired and he fell asleep on her. Kate rested comfortably next to him and considered how she came to be here.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate woke up to find Rick gone only he hadn't gone too far. She found him dressed and sitting at his desk typing away again. She didn't even bother to get dressed and slipped in behind him still naked.

With hands going over his shoulders and as far down his chest as she could, she asked, "What are you doing now?" He should be naked and in their bed. She was ready for more sex.

"Trying to help find your parents. It's just that we have so little information to go by. It would help to interrogate the man who bought you. He might know more," Rick muttered in frustration.

Kate felt her heart soar into the clouds. She loved him a little more for this. "And?" She was already going to love him forever but she would love him even harder for this if he could.

"We haven't found them yet and the guy that bought you is dead. From what little I can learn of him he was involved in a fight and was killed. What was written about it is that he took a knife to his kidney and was left to die.

"Apparently he wasn't well liked so no one looked into who killed him. They simply divided up what belonged to him. Any chance they would've moved to another planet maybe?" Rick tilted his head back to look up at her.

"They sold me for the money or we would've all died. Who would take them anywhere for free?" Kate asked him.

Rick could think of one answer but telling her that her parents were dead without proof would only hurt her. Though he suddenly thought of another reason.

"They might be slaves somewhere now as well. No more identification. No way to trace where they are now." Rick looked back down at his screen that had nothing.

"Oh God!" Kate took her hands off of Rick and covered her mouth with both hands instead. Her being a slave as a way to support her parents had been one thing. But the thought that now her parents were also slaves hurt.

"I don't know, love. Until we find them they could be anywhere. Being slaves is only one possible answer of how they could be off of that planet. There are others. The trick is going to be finding what planet they're on now. They might be out here on the Rim." There was just so much space to search for two specific people.

Rick spun his chair so he could face her. He wasn't surprised that she was still naked. He had to hand it to her. She was certainly comfortable in her own skin.

Rick pulled her arms down and took her hands in his. "There's so much space to search. If they made it off that planet regardless of the reason. It just means it's going to take more time."

"They might not ever know I'm not a slave any longer. That I'm married. That I'm pregnant." It was all just too much for Kate to take. Her life had chanced so much and now her parents were missing.

Rick got up and took her back to bed where he lay down with her and spooned her from behind. Even though she was crying Rick was amused that she used a hand to move his hand that was over her onto one of her enlarged breasts as both of them had begun to produce a tiny bit milk for the baby.

Even crying and profoundly sad she was thinking of sex. Rick intentionally moved his fingers to her nipple and rubbed it between his two fingers.

Eventually her crying stopped. It was enough that Rick turned her onto her back, spread her legs wide and got into position to eat her pussy and give her another couple of orgasms. He was hoping this would take her mind off of her missing parents.


	18. Chapter 18

**Firefly**

_Chapter 18_

_It is now 6 months later_

Frankie and Rick were actually looking over their fighter in the Landing Bay. Several of the modules had been put together and they were both now getting an idea of just what the size of their fighter was going to be like. It was actually bigger than either of them were thinking. Yes, they'd seen the drawings that had dimensions. However, seeing it was totally different.

"Fighter, huh?" Frankie looked at Rick as they walked around it.

"Well it's supposed to have room for just the pilot. Doesn't that qualify it as being a fighter?" Rick argued.

"Save for any bombs, this thing is big for even a fighter bomber we ever had," Frankie replied.

"How are the simulator missions coming?" Rick changed subjects since the size was what it was.

"I get one more item failure and I'm going to scream. Beyond that this thing is positively amazing. You don't actually fly anywhere. You just jump from place to place, then jump home.

"I've only ever seen simulations of what this weapon can do. I'm really interested in just what it can really do to an actual target." Frankie wanted to see his first Alliance ship blow up and not know a thing since they didn't see anything.

"How are you sleeping?" Rick changed subjects again.

"Sleep? What's that? She's at least three months old but she still isn't sleeping the night through. Liz insisted on breastfeeding and this place doesn't have a breast pump so she has to get up every time. Both of us sometimes feel more like the walking dead." Frankie laughed at himself.

"Sounds like Kate and I. He at least doesn't cry when someone's holding him. Kate won't listen to me about letting him have formula and take some of the burden off of her.

"We do, however, have one tiny concern that Liara's still looking into." Rick sighed since he hadn't planned this far in advance. So if something went wrong it was going to be all his fault. "We don't know what that drug I gave Kate has or is doing to the baby." Rick hung his head. "If I've inadvertently done something to the baby I'll never forgive myself.

"I just wanted… I was only trying… I may have screwed up big time this time." Rick was still kicking himself. He really hadn't taken Kate getting pregnant into consideration. If they lost the baby he was going to have a new demon haunting his soul. This one might actually kill him.

"This place has technology I've only ever dreamed of. Give them a chance before you go off the deep end," Frankie cautioned him.

"I should go. Kate and Caleb are due in medical again soon and I need to be there," Rick told him and left Frankie to finish looking over their not so tiny fighter.

"Firefly. Hopefully you'll live up to the name." Frankie patted it and headed for their room where he was betting Liz was getting some sleep.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick was a little late since the scanner bar was just going across the baby on the medical bed with Kate standing right there. Rick walked up and put an arm around her.

Kate loved her drug since it meant lots and lots of sex with Rick. They had in fact been having sex up to the day before she gave birth. Then it wasn't even two weeks yet and she needed him badly.

"What's the news?" Rick asked, unsure whether he wanted to know. He also felt Kate take a strong hold of his arm. She was clearly worried as well.

"The baby clearly has some of this drug in his blood. What it is doing to him I am not certain. I am going to need to study the results more clearly. However, much like the drug is not affecting any of Kate's internal organs it does not appear to be having any detrimental effects at this time.

"What it is doing to his brain chemistry is another matter. The drug is affecting Kate's brain chemistry which I believe is its intent. We may not know if there is any damage taking place for a few months if not years.

"I will need to see the baby in another month, please. Until then you are both free to go. When I learn anything I will let you know." Liara freed them to leave and went over to her desk so she could analyze what the drug was doing to the baby.

Kate picked up her baby bag and hurried out of the medical bay.

Rick caught up to her. "I'm sorry, Kate. I'm really very sorry." Having something wrong with the baby was not his intent.

"There is nothing wrong with him," she said fiercely. "There has to be nothing wrong." Kate stepped into the elevator, let the door close, and stood there a moment. "Park."

Kate stepped out into the large green space, went to her favorite spot, and sat down with her baby. She loved him. She loved him more than anything. She loved her drug because it got her closer to Rick. Her drug couldn't possibly do anything to her baby.

Kate let him rest on the grass, lay down next to him, and kept her face close so he could see her and feel her and hear her voice.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick walked dejectedly to their room. Kate would show up eventually. There were only just so many places she could go.

He sat down at his desk and returned to searching for Kate's parents. He'd initially started with just where ships could go from that planet and searching those planets. Now he was searching planets where they could have gone from any of those planets.

What it did was vastly increase the number of places he was forced to search. The problem was that several of these place were actually out on the Rim and the Rim was notorious for not keeping track of just who was out here.

Several of the planets that the Alliance didn't go to were also notorious for not caring who came or who went. Even he could easily get lost if he wanted to.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick watched Kate and Caleb enter their room and he abandoned his desk to intercept them.

"You okay?" Rick had let her have some time alone. He was concerned but he didn't need or want to be overbearing and rule her life.

"No…yes…maybe. What are we going to do?" Kate held her baby tight to her. He meant the most to her. She loved Rick but a baby was somehow different in her mind.

"We wait. We let Liara do her job. This place is advanced. Maybe advanced enough to help. I'm so very sorry. I never considered… This is all my fault." As if he didn't have enough ghosts and demons after his soul.

"I like my drug. I still like my drug. I just…" Kate just didn't get it.

Rick escorted both of them to the bedroom where Kate could put Caleb down so she could get ready for bed and a little sleep.

Rick tucked her in, kissed her head, and stayed for a moment. "I'm going to go back to finding your parents." Rick kissed her this time.

"Still haven't found them?" Kate really wanted her parents to see where she was now.

"I think I've cleared all stops from the planet they'd been on. I can't find them, they're not there. So now I'm taking one planet at a time where each of those have access to. It's time consuming. It's just that almost all of these places don't keep track of who comes and who goes. For all I know they're out in the Rim somewhere now. But I'm still looking." Rick kissed her again.

"Get some sleep while you can." Rick left her and went back to his desk to continue his search.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

_It is now one month later_

"On the medical bed for me, please," Liara asked Kate who was with Rick and brought Caleb for his next checkup.

Just as she did Frankie, Liz and their little girl Kateryn walked in for their monthly checkup.

They all watched Liara run the scanner bar across Caleb and checked her handheld unit then left the baby on the bed and retreated to her desk.

Kate picked up her son and she and Rick followed Liara to her desk. Then the two of them waited impatiently since neither of them could stand still.

"The drug is still within his system. Your system was connected to his so it is to be expected. The drug as I understand it, is meant to increase a woman's desire for sex. While it will also affect a male it will not work as it was designed to do. The drug in both of you appears to be permanent. Perhaps over an extended period of time the drug in you will diminish, however, it will never actually go away.

"The amount of drug in the baby will be the same. It will not ever go away unless it is removed on purpose. Since his brain is presently generating connections for memory and sending signals to the rest of the body I am afraid it will be impossible to tell you what that will mean for his future.

Based on its design I can rule out brain damage or genetic problems later. However…" It was not that Rick groaned loudly. This was his drug and he had done this to his own son.

"When the baby reaches puberty and his body starts to generate and introduce increased amounts of hormones, beyond what the baby is already generating, will be another matter.

"Since the drug is designed for one purpose that is when it will manifest itself and begin to interact with all the additional hormones. My best guess is that he will have instant erections that may conceivably last too long which will be bad. If a male penis has a full erection that means no new blood will flow into that part of his body. Parts of the cells in his penis will start to die. The damage will be irreversible and permanent," Liara warned them both.

Kate held him too tight to her and patted his back. So far it was all bad news.

"There is more. Sex is not just a physical action, it is also mental. Hence the purpose of the drug. It is possible that the drug it will interact with a male's hormones. This may produce a quick and violent response if he perceives any rejection," Liara explained.

"Rape." Liz and Frankie couldn't help but hear every word and she clapped a hand over her mouth for saying anything at all.

"NO!" Kate cried and began to sob. She knew exactly what rape was. She herself had been raped by her previous master a number of times and knew what that felt like.

"Can you remove the drug? Clean it from his system somehow? Something," Rick pleaded.

"That was going to be one of my suggestions. Though simply filtering his blood will not remove 100% of the drug. What he would benefit him the most is an exchange transfusion. We would need to do it in stages to prevent his brain from being deprived of blood.

"We will also need to filter his blood at the same time. Since his system has this drug we cannot simply remove all of his blood and replace it at the same time. That will mean the drug will be able to spread itself though his system and contaminate the new blood. We may likely have to do this procedure more than once since filtering the blood will not be totally effective." Liara waited for them to respond.

"What do you need?" Rick loved the idea. Anything to save his son and not have another ghost in his future eating at his soul.

"His blood type. Many, many units of his blood type. Which we don't have."

"Blood banks, hospitals. Browns or Alliance," Frankie suggested. "A fast midnight raid on an Alliance core planet. Get in and get out using the Gateway before the police can respond. Nothing to show how we got in or how we got out."

"Most surveillance cameras are outside trying to keep people out, not aimed at the people that are inside, usually. Even if they do identify us they don't know where we are," Liz said.

"My parents are dead and I have no brothers or sisters any longer thanks to the war," Frankie stated.

"Same here," Liz offered up.

Rick added his voice. "I'm an only child and I have no idea where my mother is now. I haven't even thought to look. I've been spending all my time trying to find Kate's parents. To no avail so far."

Kate smiled and kissed his cheek. Though she did feel sorry that he hadn't tried looking for his own mother.

"Can we scan for a blood bank of an Alliance core world and get the blood we need from them?" Rick looked at Liara.

"You will need to discuss your request with Nassana. If you can show that this outpost will remain hidden while obtaining the blood that is required to perform this procedure she should approve it. However, you will need to present your plan to her."

Liara in the meantime returned to her medical bed. "Place Kateryn on the medical bed for me, please." She patted the bed and waited for Liz.

"Wait for me before you plan anything, especially if it's going to be an Alliance core planet," Liz told Rick and her husband. She was the planner around here and she didn't want those two to design something that didn't stand a chance.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Liz still had Kateryn with her when she showed up at the Gateway where Rick and her husband were already waiting. She didn't question where Kate was. She had enough on her mind already.

Nassana was also there. "We want a blood bank location on planet Londinium. One will do." Liz watched Nassana work the controls. In a few minutes they were shown an exterior view of the building Liz had asked for.

"That's what we want. Now we need to wait for the middle of the night. First show me a chemical factory that's closest to any blood bank on this planet," Liz asked her.

Liz saw the look her husband was giving her. "We want a site all the first responders will respond to before we raid any blood bank. First rule: attack where they're weakest. We want to give them something to think about. Get them to go where we aren't," Liz explained.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Liz had to nurse and change her baby girl's diaper while they waited.

"Have you got it? Go in and knock them unconscious." Liz was sure her husband could take three unarmed untrained civilians. "Then start pressing buttons for everything you can find and get out. Enter the bathroom and come out. Then go back and come back here. The place will have surveillance cameras but none of them will be in the restroom.

"They'll eventually identify you and probably send a ship to our planet to pick you up. We'll both be gone so they've got nothing. Then as that place starts to erupt in the biggest chemical factory fire in history we take the blood and get back here.

"Then you two can stay and watch the fire if you like but I'm taking the blood to Liara so she can get started."

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Frankie had changed and had even found one of Liz's scarves to place over his face to make it harder on them. "You get caught and I'll divorce you." Liz smiled at him to show she was teasing him.

"Piece of cake." Frankie stepped through and was soon lost from sight. To keep the Gateway open for him to make it back, Nassana had to maintain this view.

All four of them, not Kateryn was asleep so wasn't watching, they watched him vanish from view and didn't see him do anything. But Liz was watching the time to see how long it was taking him.

Liz was starting to get worried that he was taking too long when suddenly he burst into the room and ran through the Gateway. "Might want to end that view fast," Frankie called out and Nassana did but not before they saw a flash of fire.

"I stayed just long enough to make sure it worked. Boy, did it ever!" Frankie was impressed.

When Liz was satisfied with the time lapse she got Nassana to open the Gateway on the blood bank and went inside. The blood would be refrigerated so the correct room was easy to spot.

Liara and L'mimi were here to receive the blood and take it up to the medical bay immediately.

"Go! Make it quick and fast and don't linger." Liz watched her husband and Rick go through the Gateway with their containers and used a tool to bust through the glass in the belief that the glass doors would be locked.

They only needed one blood type but both were in such a hurry, thanks to Liz, that they took others as well. Though they did take all they had of that one blood type. Then they ran back through. Nassana killed the view and Rick and Frankie handed off their containers.

"I will summon you and Kate when I am ready, Commander." Liara and L'mimi left with the blood and went up to the Medical bay.

"This thing is amazing!" Frankie looked over the Gateway he'd just gone through twice now. "This plan of yours just might work, Rodgers." He was still in the simulator, however, the ship itself was getting closer to be done and ready for testing.

Then it was look out Alliance!


	19. Chapter 19

**Firefly**

_Chapter 19_

_It is now 3 months later_

Frankie had his orders that his wife had given him. He had three targets to hit then come home and that was it. To ignore everything else unless somehow he'd been spotted which this place was telling them should be impossible.

To reinforce this point on this first attack he had his wife, holding their daughter in her arms, Rick, and Kate, who had her son in her arms, right behind him.

"Exiting Landing Bay." Frankie flew it out and held his position. "Plotting first jump point. Powering up the weapons. …Shield is active as is the cloaking device. I have all greens. Setting timer for the jump. …Jumping."

Suddenly everyone saw the target right in front of them. Frankie was the only one that was used to this. He'd done this more times than he could count.

"Target on scanner. No flights within thirty plus miles. I have four Alliance military ships in orbit." Frankie looked everything over and saw his target was locked. "Hydroelectric dam is locked and…firing."

Except in computer displays about what should happen, no one, not even Frankie had ever seen the weapons firing before. Let alone see actual damage.

His first two shots from his twin weapon on the top of his fighter fired and struck the base of the dam. He was there until either the dam failed or he was somehow spotted which was possible since he was just sitting there in hover mode and firing his weapons. However, after firing three times they all saw cracks starting to show in the dam followed by water leaking out.

"Next target, babe." Liz didn't need to see the dam fail to know that it would.

"Inputting jump coordinates for second target. …I have all green. …Jumping." There was a flash of white on the screen and suddenly target number two was in sight.

"Target on scanner. Power is stable. Locking on target." He was on the same planet just in a totally different location. In this case it was a different hydroelectric dam. The previous one was very tall but not overly wide. This one was seriously long and not overly tall.

"Target is locked and…firing." Like last time they watched this orb reaching out that had a dark blue ball in the center. However, around it out to an almost invisible edge it was filled with lightning.

The first one struck the dam and blew it to pieces in that immediate area. But the plan was to fire three separate times in different locations of the long dam. So they watched as Frankie fired two more times with the same result.

"Inputting jump coordinates for third target. …I have all green. …Jumping." There was a flash of white on the screen and suddenly target number three was in sight.

Like the last hydroelectric dam, it was long and short. Just not nearly as long.

"Target on scanner. Power is stable. Locking on target." He was on the same planet just in a totally different location. "And firing." Like all the other shots it was a dark blue ball surrounded by lighting.

This dam was even thinner than the last one so it blew up spectacularly. Also just like last time the plan was to fire three shots and destroy as much of the dam as possible. So Frankie did just that.

"Target number three destroyed. Power is still stable and I have all greens. Setting new jump coordinates for home and…jumping." Just like that they saw nothing until the landing bay doors opened and he slowly slid the invisible fighter into the landing bay that was invisible from the outside. Then the door closed.

"Checking all power settings. …Powering down the weapon. Powering down the shield. Powering down the cloaking device. Allowing the engines to cool before shutting down. And that's that." Frankie raised his hands high.

"Nice work, babe." Liz leaned down to kiss the top of his head.

"It actually worked." Rick stood there almost in disbelief. It was an almost two year old dream and yet there they were with three destroyed dams.

The dams weren't used just for power generation. Like all dams they were there for river control. Generating power was simply a benefit from the dam itself.

Because of that it meant two main things. Their power grid worldwide was now down three power generators. Several in each dam to be more precise. It also meant a fresh water lake was gone. And it meant a lot of towns downstream were now flooded. Whole areas downstream were now ruined and yes, lives were lost.

But that was war and in their minds it was, make no mistake. This was the first few shots in a new war that this time they intended for the Alliance to lose.

"When's the next one?" Rick asked since he was ready to make the Alliance suffer this time since in his mind they deserved it.

"Two days. They want to do maintenance and tests to make sure none of the systems are damaged or approaching failure. It's a new ship," Frankie answered.

"Gives me two days to scan and make sure our next three targets are still at the top of the list. …You know they might think this was the result of bombs and will be looking all across the planet for who did it." Liz smiled a wide smile, knowing that they wouldn't find anything.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

They were all in the cafeteria eating a celebratory meal with a little alcohol from Rick's old ship.

"How's Caleb doing? I know the blood transfusion took place." Liz knew it had happened and that they kept having to take him back to medical every month for another scan.

Both the boy and the girl were now 7 months old. They had figured out how to crawl and were actively babbling all kinds of baby sounds.

"He's still clean. It took Liara two times to remove it all and filter his blood. She isn't expecting any long term damage." Kate was happy for that. "Aren't you, buddy?" Kate gave him something to play with and he immediately tried to stuff into his mouth.

"Good. You know you're going to have to do that again if you have another child," Liz said gently.

"I know. That's why I asked her to tie my brand new tubes. We can decide if we want another child and not by accident later," Kate said.

"Smart girl. You've come a long ways since that first day." Liz was proud of her.

"Yeah, I was a slave then." Kate was glad to be long past that day.

"Not to me, you weren't. Not even the day I found you." Rick dismissed her ever being a slave. That earned Rick a quick kiss.

"Now we just need to find your mother, babe." Kate had talked him into looking for her, too.

"I thought trying to find your parents was hard. My mother could literally be anywhere. I wouldn't put it past her to find a company that got her a job on one of the six core planets. Even if that's horribly remote." He couldn't discount it but he would search the core worlds when he ran out of options.

"So we're sticking to the same planet next time?" Frankie wanted to be sure.

"Yes, after these first three hits, we move to three of the nuclear power plants next. They're a little old, however, their loss will plunge a lot of civilians into darkness. Not to mention forcing the Alliance to scramble to prevent any further damage. It will still mean that immediate area will be radiated for untold years to come.

"Then while they're shipping what they need from other planets we destroy three military ships in orbit. The orbit will be filled with cargo ships making it impossible for them to hide their loss." Liz was sticking to her plan.

"The more screaming privileged civilians they have the better for us. Not to worry, babe. The military will be forced to respond and weaken themselves elsewhere and that's where we'll attack next after they respond." Liz knew her husband and probably Rick would want to switch to military soon.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate was a little tired of bringing her son to medical. There was nothing wrong with him.

"Perfect timing. Please place him on the medical bed for me," Liara asked her and stood up from behind her desk. Then Kate watched her run the scanner bar across him and study her handheld unit.

"You are still feeding him formula and not breastfeeding?" Liara asked.

Kate had felt hurt that her milk could lead to her son being exposed to her drug through her breast milk. So she had been using formula which had allowed Rick to help her feed him.

She was still using a breast pump to relieve the pressure on her breasts. As they started to fill up with milk they hurt until she pumped. A midnight raid to obtain a breast pump system and supplies had been laughably simple.

"Yes. All my breast milk goes down the drain. Just like you ordered," Kate said.

"Excellent. I don't dare give you a drug to dry up your milk in fear of it interacting with your drug. Your baby is clean. I do not need to see you or your baby until your next booster shots are required." Liara returned to her desk. "You can go," Liara told her since Kate hadn't moved yet.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

_It is now three days later_

Frankie was back in his remote pilot chair and warming up all of his fighter's systems in preparation to go out again. This time only Liz and Rick were behind him. Kate and the kids were in the park to keep them busy.

"Here we go." Frankie took the fighter out of the landing bay and programmed in his first jump location. "Jumping…now." Suddenly the screen went white followed by being directly over his target.

"I still have all green. Target is being scanned. Scans indicated the old nuclear reactor is still functional. It is presently working at 40% capacity. Locking on target and…firing." As before they watched as the fighter's weapon fired, struck the control room, and destroyed almost the entire building.

"Scanning for next target and…firing." This time he was aiming for the spent rod cooling pool that was outside of the containment building. While the old rods were no longer useful for creating power they still had a fair amount of radiation in them. Meaning they had to remain in pools of water to keep them cool. Now all those rods were either destroyed or blasted to pieces and spread far and wide. In addition the pool itself wasn't totally destroyed. However, the pool was now draining and exposing the remaining rods.

"Scanning final target and…firing." This time the target was one of the two cooling towers. Firing on the tower wasn't really necessary but Liz wanted to give the impression that they didn't know what they were destroying. With the reactor core already exposed, the water flowing out, and the spent rod pool being exposed, the primary damage was already done.

"I still have all greens and jumping…now." In a flash of light the little fighter jumped to a new location on the same planet. It was also the same planet as the last attack.

The target was another old nuclear reactor. This one, though, was built next to a river so it could access the water it needed easily. That also meant it had a built-in vulnerability.

"Scanning first target and…firing." This target was the pump house taking water from the river to fill the containment pool when additional water was necessary. It also created a new hole that the river immediately started to fill with river water.

"Scanning next target and…firing." This one was easy. It was one of the cooling towers. The idea was to get it to collapse down onto the control building and do damage instead of destroying it.

The result was that part of the tower did indeed collapse onto the building.

"Still all greens and scanning next target and…firing." This target was meant to create a path for the cooling water from the core a place to go and allow the river to work slowly at eating away at the concrete. Eventually it would collapse and all the radiation would go down the river if they couldn't prevent it.

"Still all greens and jumping…now." The screen flashed and his new target showed up right in front of him.

Since the plan was to make the rich and privileged suffer this time they were targeting the ability to create power for the civilians and military. They'd hit three hydroelectric plants and now two old nuclear power plants. While that alone was going to hurt, they feared the really rich would have back-up generators for temporary power.

They might actually find a way to provide more permanent power just for them in a short period of time which would defeat the purpose of these attacks. So this target was going to make anything they did that much more difficult.

With that in mind this target was the Radisson power substation. The entire station encompassed one hundred thirty-two acres of land. It also held a number of 220 kV/66 kV transformers. Just replacing one transformer was going to take them months plus time to transport it from there to the restored site. This substation would be down for years.

The amount of electrical energy passing through the substation is six thousand six hundred megawatts (MW).[6] Two AC 735 kV lines and one HVDC +/- 450 kV line.

A few minutes later the majority of the place was left burning. Every transformer was gone, huge power line towers were gone and the one hundred thirty-two acres was now one big mess.

"Adding power to engines to obtain a high orbit." Liz had impressed on him that she wanted to see the amount of damage so she could decide what came next.

It took him some time to reach a high orbit. "Starting scan," Frankie said.

"I'm reading six Alliance warships in orbit. Two are Ocula class, four are Trebuchet class. I'm reading a number of Foxbat class fighters in the atmosphere now," Frankie reported.

"Damage, babe?" Liz needed to know what they had done.

"Still analyzing. …Scan complete. Looks like roughly one third of the planet is now dark. It's broken up into areas and not an entire one third of the planet," Frankie told them though Liz was going to spend hours reviewing his scans to decide what came next.

"You can come home, babe." He'd done enough for now.

They watched as Frankie jumped home, landed in the landing bay, and shut down.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

_It is now 2 days later_

Liz didn't have clearance to enter the Command room and Rick couldn't give it to her, he'd found out. So the next best thing was to let her use his desk in their cabin.

Rick entered and saw Liz at his desk while Kate was on the floor playing with Caleb and Kateryn. It did his heart good to see her having fun. All three of them were laughing.

Rick stepped in behind Liz and leaned down. "You can work thought all this noise?" Rick didn't miss that Kate had heard him somehow and was sticking her tongue out at him. Then she went back to playing with the kids.

"What noise?" Liz replied. "She's good, Rick, she's really good. If this is the not-a-slave version of her, she should never have been made a slave. It was a waste of a life." Kate was her best friend and she was happy for her.

"How's it coming?" Rick moved on as to why she was in their cabin.

"We might have done a little more damage than I thought. However, I think we need to stick to the plan for now. We move to the next targets as planned." Liz was even more convinced.

"You're sure we're not hurting them too much?" Kate had overheard every word as both kids raced at crawling speed for the bedroom.

"Civilians died when the dams were destroyed, yes. The Alliance bombed and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians on purpose. I'm not trying to turn us into them. Mostly I'm trying to make their rich and privileged lives difficult. The more they yell the happier I'll be. They'll put pressure on for them to solve these problems. They longer they yell the worse it will get." Liz was loving it.

"When do we hit the military?" Rick asked her.

Liz had been expecting that and wished she had a solid answer. "When it serves our purpose. We want them searching for who's doing this and get the military involved. So long as we stick to civilian targets they'll be less inclined to think it is the Browns fighting back. No ships leaving or entering the core planets. Homegrown attacks so they will put pressure on the civilians and not us," she explained yet again.

"So sewage treatment plants are next on the list?" Rick wanted to confirm.

"Every city has one or more so this may take a few weeks. Once the military patrols at this planet get too big we move to the next planet and start all over again," Liz confirmed.

"EWW!" Kate knew what losing sewage treatment plants was gong to mean. Instead of thinking about that too much she crawled away in search of the kids.

"So when's the next baby, Rick?" Liz asked him now that Kate had shown just what kind of mommy she really was.

"We haven't even figured out where the one we've got is going to sleep yet. His bed's still in our room. Pretty soon it'll be out here. Let alone where his room's going to be when he's older. And you want to talk about another one?" Rick shook his head.

"No room up here to expand to?" Liz was thinking just take down some walls.

"Apparently no. I asked. This is as good as it gets. This outpost wasn't designed and built with families in mind. It's an outpost." Rick thought that explained it all.

"So take over several cabins on one of the levels below here. Do you have to be on the same level as the Command room? Ask them how to move this desk." She was betting there were a number of power and control conduits coming to this space.

Rick really didn't know. "I can ask, I suppose." He had no idea what they would say but it might solve the problem they were facing now. "You two are going to have the same problem soon." Liz and Frankie had even less space than they did.

Liz hadn't planned to complain. But he was right. Space was limited.

"If we all stay here there's one more thing for you to think about. What are the kids going to do later? School, someplace to go, friends, jobs." Liz named a few.

Rick sighed. "It's an outpost, not a city." He wasn't really sure just what they were going to do about that.


	20. Chapter 20

**Firefly**

_Chapter 20_

Kate was in the cafeteria with both kids and they were all making a mess. "Combat's over?" Kate asked Rick as he walked in.

"All done for another three days." Rick scooped up his son. "So what do you want to do today?" Rick questioned him only to see him look down at Kateryn. "You like her, don't you?" Caleb reached out to be back on the floor.

"Okay." Rick felt a little rejected but at least these two liked each other since they were the only kids in the whole place.

"You really attacked those places?" Kate meant the treatment plants. She knew what not having any plumbing was going to do to people.

"Yes, we did." Rick sat down next to her. "This is war, Kate. When we tried to free whole planets from slavery a lot more happened than just losing three sewage treatment plants. The only difference is that this time the Alliance core planets are suffering instead of Browns."

"And they didn't suffer?" Kate queried since war affected everyone.

"Perhaps. …They may have had to use ration cards since most of their food comes from Browns' planets and we did what we could to prevent cargo ships bleeding our planets dry.

"Make no mistake, we starved and they were stuck using ration cards. You were a slave to a single person. All of us are slaves to the Alliance. That's why Frankie and Liz came all the way out here to get away from all that.

"It only feels calm here because the Alliance isn't out here. The planet I found you on wasn't a food producing planet. That planet wasn't nearly as affected as several of the others.

"You would have been, well younger; might have gone hungry a little," Rick said.

"We were always hungry. It was part of why my parents sold me. I don't blame them. I knew what they were doing." Kate didn't want him to think badly of her parents.

Rick tried to explain. "I don't think badly of anyone who's trying to stay alive. I just have a problem with owners of slaves and that happens to include the Alliance."

"Who wants to go to the park!?" Rick had had enough gloomy talk and would rather hear some laughter for a change.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate was smiling widely as she watched Rick spinning both kids. He had a firm grip of both arms of each kid, one at a time, and was spinning in place with both kids flying at the end of his arms. Rick was grunting and the kids were laughing.

After a few minutes Rick was on the ground ready to throw up and the kids were still laughing while lying on the ground. Rick's mind was still spinning but it sounded like the kids were happy.

Then Frankie and Liz showed up. "What happened to him." Frankie asked Kate as they both saw him lying on the ground. The kids meanwhile were still laughing until one of them spotted the two of them and crawled toward Mom.

"Rick was spinning them one at a time. I think he's dizzy." Kate was still all smiles.

"It sounded like a good idea at the time." Rick said yet still didn't move an inch which had all of them laughing at his expense.

"So have you been having fun, sweetness?" Liz scooped up her daughter. She knew she was lucky to even have her. Yet her joy spread to them having Rick and especially Kate. She was starting to wonder if her daughter just knew who mommy was. Her or Kate.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

_It is now three days later_

"What's on the agenda for today?" Rick was right next to Liz and they were both right behind Frankie.

"We're headed for planet Sihnon. We're going to start with their power plants as well. Londinium is the home of the Parliament and the Prime Minister. Sihnon is the home planet of the Trade Association and other guilds within the system. They're the ones that steal all the produce and meat produced on other planets," Liz explained. They watched Frankie leave the Landing Bay then jump to the first target.

The first target wasn't all that hard to make out. It was a massive solar power station that took up at least a dozen acres. Technically there were three towers that the panels surrounding each of them fed solar energy to. Out of all the Alliance core planets, Sihnon was the greenest in terms of energy, trash it created, and how it handled that trash.

Frankie's job was to take out each of the three solar towers before moving to the next target elsewhere on the planet.

They watched as he disintegrated all three towers quickly and easily before moving on to the next target.

"I still have all greens. Scans show only two Alliance military ships in orbit. Both are Longbow class. Scanning targets now." Frankie brought one up on this screen for all to see.

This planet had a number of large solar disks in orbit that collected solar energy from the sun and sent that energy down to the planet in the form of microwaves or SPS for short.

"Locking on target and…firing." They watched as yet again a dark blue ball inside a separate bubble and surrounded by lighting bolts struck the target. Since it was small enough it was totally encompassed by the affect and when it ended the satellite was just gone. Then they watched him destroy two more just like the first one.

Since he was in orbit targeting where the microwaves went to supply power to the rest of the planet, all he had to do was target them, have his shots encompass them, and watch them disappear.

"Can I hit these stupid Longbow class ships. There are just the two." Frankie thought it would be simple.

"Negative, we're still on civilian targets only. We don't need military involvement yet. Stay with the program, babe. Do not screw this up. Just come home. We'll hit them eventually." Liz was going to remove his ass if he did something stupid.

"Jumping for home." Frankie didn't see Liz relax and start breathing again. Eventually she watched him shut down each system.

"They were just Longbows. Six hundred forty thousand tons. I could have taken them easily." Frankie still didn't see why not.

"Destroying the satellites might get them to think ship, however, the destruction of the ground stations could lead them to think it was a technical issue instead of a ship in orbit. If you had destroyed those two they would know for a fact it was a ship. There's only one group that could have ships that were capable of doing just that. They would be all over the outer planets searching for us and taking it out on them. We stick to the plan. Got it!" Liz needed for him to understand fully and stick with the plan.

"Yeah, I got it." He was military and wanted to kill military. But he trusted his wife. "So what's next?"

"In three days we go back and take out more civilian targets. Loss of life will be minimal like previous strikes except the damage is going to severely affect them. Pretty soon those rich civilians are going to start screaming. When that happens they'll open themselves up to new targets.

"The last war lasted six years and cost millions of lives. The Alliance didn't suffer nearly as much. This time we're going to fix that. The Alliance civilians may not die but they aren't going to enjoy their privileged lives. Now, I'm hungry so I'm going to the cafeteria." Liz kissed his head and left him sitting there.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

_It is now one month later_

Rick, Kate and Caleb were busy looking over their new cabin. It had been proven to be impossible to expand the Commander's cabin directly across from the Command room. Getting a Command and Control desk into another cabin had proven to be equally impossible.

The answer was to combine two standard cabins into one big cabin. It meant they had two living rooms, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. At least it solved the space problem as Caleb grew up. If they chose to have another child the bed would be swapped out with a handmade bunk bed.

Frankie, Liz, and Kateryn were doing the same thing for the same reason with the same result. They, too, would end up with bunk beds if they chose to have another child.

"What do you think?" Rick asked, knowing as he looked around it wasn't nearly as nice as their previous cabin. For one thing it was an internal cabin, meaning it had no windows looking out onto blackness. Still the illusion of having windows had been nice, even if there was nothing to see.

The look on Kate's face told Rick she was thinking what he was. It wasn't really nice but it was necessary. "It'll do. Some paint, maybe?" Kate asked hopefully.

"We can ask." There were times when Rick really wasn't sure he was the commander around here. He kept asking if he could do this or could do that.

Caleb was getting closer and closer to being a year old and while Kate was interested maybe now wasn't the time to ask about another baby so she kept her silence for the time being.

Kate did have one idea and it wasn't a new one. She traced a finger over his chest. "Maybe we could break in the new bed? You could make love to me." That was one thing that hadn't changed. Kate needed sex, lots and lots of sex. Sometimes twice a day if she could find Rick and talk him into it.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"So what's the target of the day?" Frankie questioned his wife who was right behind him again.

Liz began to explain what she had planned. "We have three planets that are now about one third dark and are going to stay that way for a long time. So far their answer is to put fighters in the air twenty-four hours a day. In addition they've pulled in some of their patrols." She had been keeping up with what they had been doing to try and counter what they were doing.

"So today we're going back to Londinium. This time you're going to attack their spaceports. They're shipping in supplies to try and provide support for that planet. We're going to stay here until the military reacts a little harder and focuses on Londinium. Ignore any cargo ships in the air or in orbit. The spaceport and any cargo ships on the ground, though, are your targets. You're free to fire on anything you want until military fighters show up. Then I want you to jump for home."

"Got it." This little trip was going to sound like one he was going to like. "There are three spaceports, you know."

"Yes, I do and that's why you're jumping from one to the other then the final one if the fighters stay far enough away. Don't risk a fighter getting lucky and shooting you or ramming you. We'll get there, babe, just be a little more patient." Since Liz couldn't see his face she didn't see him smiling wide.

Today was going to be a big day.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Frankie was powering down after a really good day. "Let's see how they like that." Frankie was all smiles since he had almost totally destroyed three spaceports along with a number of cargo ships.

Granted the Alliance had hundreds and hundreds of cargo ships so what he had destroyed was barely a drop in the bucket. Still it felt good.

"I'm cooking tonight. Go find our daughter and bring her." Liz kissed him and headed off to the kitchen.

Frankie still wanted to start hitting Alliance warships. Show them that their precious fleet wasn't all that powerful any longer.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick was sitting at his desk when suddenly hands that he knew well started to go down his chest. He smiled. Kate might have started out as a slave who only did what she was told. A very beautiful slave at that. Now that she wasn't a slave any longer the real Kate was shinning through nice and strong. She was also willing to ask for what she wanted.

"No luck?" Kate could guess what he was doing.

"If I didn't know better I would swear your parents have found another Outpost that's just as hidden as this one." Rick gave up for now and sat back. "Where are the kids?" That was one more thing Rick had noticed. She loved kids. She was a natural at being a mother.

"Liz has them for the day. Last I saw, Frankie was with her since today isn't an attack Alliance day," Kate answered.

Rick, however, heard the tone of her voice. "You disapprove of us attacking the Alliance," Rick stated with what he felt was certainty.

"No, I just… I don't like killing is all. You started this. I know what you tell me. It just means a lot of people are going to die, including children," Kate told him.

Rick heard the magic word in that statement and he twisted his chair around and pulled her down into his lap while he tried to explain again.

"I know I told you about the planets' attempt at breaking away from the Alliance. To try and be us instead of ruled by the Alliance. The idea was to start our own alliance and not be ruled by them. We entered into talks. Their answer to that was to attack us so we fought back. We lost, as you know. They took our audacious attempt at leaving them out on all of us. Things are even worse now than before.

"We're simply returning the favor. If they're not interested in talking and only want to kill then they should learn that it's a two edged sword. We haven't killed all that many people. We're just making sure they suffer for a change. What we've done will take them decades to recover from."

"So when do you stop?" Kate asked and Rick didn't miss that she used _you_ and not _we_. Meaning she wasn't willing to be a part of this.

"WE will stop when Liz thinks they're ready to listen. They had no intention of listening last time. When will that be? That, my love, is anyone's guess. …When would you be ready to go back to being a slave?" Rick offered her a clue.

"Never," Kate said. "Do you really think it will be never?" Kate caught on fast.

"Everyone has their breaking point. The question is when will that be for the people in charge of the Alliance? And we have to be ready for a military response when we ask them if they're ready to talk. We know firsthand what their answer was last time." Rick really had no idea just when the Alliance would finally crack and listen to them.

"I just wish…" Kate left the rest off.

"I get it. I do. Honest. I'm not doing this for us. Well, not just us. We were right to try the last time. If we lose this time millions upon millions of people are doomed. If we think we're slaves then and now, we'll all have tattoos just like yours. We may be born with them." Losing this time would have dire consequences.

Kate still hated that killing had to be involved.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"So what can we do with no kids around?" Kate smiled as she questioned him.

Rick offered an option. "You could help me look for your parents."

Kate actually thought about that one for a minute and shook her head.

"We could strip off all our clothes." Rick didn't make it any further and saw Kate smiling. "Then we could go running naked through the halls and flash everyone." Kate burst into laughter. He was being silly and she knew it. Still she actually thought about it for a moment. Being caught naked and maybe having sex did have a certain allure to it. Maybe next time when they knew no one was going to be in the park. She shook her head.

"One last guess, huh?" Rick wasn't sure what he wanted his last guess to be. So he decided to be both really silly and a little serious. "I could drag you by your hair over to the bed, tie you to it, and have my way with you. Caveman style," Rick growled at her and mock bit at her exposed arm.

Kate laughed yet again since he was being silly again. She loved feeling this free and happy. Yet he'd offered her something really different. She had come in there looking for sex after getting Liz and Frankie to watch the kids.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

He had given her four orgasms and while she had totally enjoyed that she'd learned that she didn't like being tied to the bed. She wanted to get her hands on him and not being able to do that hadn't turned into anything she liked.

Now untied she was lying on Rick and was thinking about another round with her on top this time.

"So tying you to the bed wasn't something you liked?" Kate had shown that she had struggled greatly with being tied to the bed.

Kate shook her head. "I couldn't touch you and I didn't like that. I like touching you. And I really liked when you hummed that song into my pussy." She already knew what his lips and tongue could do to her. Now she got to add the rumblings of his song to what she liked.

"Maybe…" There was a time when she would never have even thought of this. She used to be a slave and did what she was told. Now she was free. "Maybe I could tie you to the bed next time." Kate bit her lower lip and waited for his response to that idea.

Rick's eyes opened wide. Maybe he should have just kept his mouth closed. "And what would you do with me if you let you?" Rick asked, his eyebrows raised.

Oops, now Kate had a problem. She knew what she liked doing to him, but could she do that while he was tied to the bed? Just how would that work out? She was going to need to think about this.

Instead she moved down his body where she took him in her mouth until he was hard enough for him to be inside her with her on top this time.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"What's today's target?" Frankie asked his wife as he sat down.

"Based on scans the Alliance military is searching the outer planets to see if there are any unknown military ships. Now while we do still have a few ships, they're all way out in the Rim.

"This means that the core planets are less protected. However, they're using a lot of fighters down in the atmosphere to try and catch us and prevent more damage to civilian targets." Liz had done her homework.

"So what are we hitting? There have to be targets that are still open. Their fighters don't worry me but this is your show," Frankie said.

Liz beamed and kissed him for that. "This should make you happy. There's a shipyard in space that's used to make Victoria Class and other smaller ships like Patrol Boats. It's basically unprotected at the moment. You, husband of mine, are going to spend this trip, all of this trip, ripping this place to pieces before coming home."

Grinning, Frankie turned to face her. "Is today my birthday and no one told me?"

"Early birthday present. Now blow this shipyard to pieces. What they leave unprotected next time is up to them. Soon choices are going to be a challenge for our little fighter," Liz warned him.

"Happy birthday to me." Frankie turned around and got ready to blow one of their shipyards to pieces.


	21. Chapter 21

**Firefly**

_Chapter 21_

_It is now 3 months later_

Everyone was in the cafeteria. Everyone save for the two female androids in the Command Center monitoring everything they needed to.

They were there to celebrate a birthday for Kateryn and Caleb since today they were one year old. Liz had baked the best cake she'd ever made in her life. However, given that there were only four people going to be eating much of it, it was also a little small.

"So who cuts the cake?" Liz held the knife for someone to cut it.

"Liara does," Kate said suddenly.

"We do not eat," Liara pointed out.

"Means more for us," Rick grinned and then endured the look Kate sent his way.

"Liara delivered the babies so she should cut the cake. She's perfect!" Kate said stubbornly as she took the knife from Liz and held it out for Liara to take. "Please. You're as much a member of our families as anyone. Maybe more." Kate wouldn't have gotten pregnant without her. She would still be a slave without her. Who better was there than Liara?

Liara looked at the other androids, took the knife and decides on the size of slices of cake, and began cutting.

What they didn't have were balloons, banners, whistles, hats, or even confetti. "They're too young to remember all that stuff anyway. It would have been all for us anyway" Rick remarked.

"We have overheard your concerns about this outpost not being a good place for children to grow up. We are androids so being here does not present us with a problem. With that in mind we got you something for the children or future children." Nassana presented it to Kate.

"It is technically for both of the children." Nassana made it plain that they weren't singling out one child over the other.

It had a little bit of weight to it and Kate carefully began to open it, which stretched Rick's patience. He wanted her to rip it open and get it over with.

Finally opening it Kate didn't get what they were, so she handed it to Liz to tell her what they were.

"HOLY SHIT!" Liz knew exactly what they were and what they were worth. She lifted one of them out and held it up. Frankie held out his hand with his mouth hanging open and watched Liz place it in his hand. Then she reached in to lift up another one.

"What is it?" Kate had no idea since to her it looked like a vial made of diamonds filled with a glowing substance.

"You call it Tritium. That is one liter using your measurement." Nassana informed them.

"A liter!? Total?" Frankie was shocked as he looked at his one little container.

"Thirty thousand dollars per gram." Liz looked at hers in astonishment.

"In English, please." Kate didn't understand though Rick was whistling.

"One thousand grams in a liter times thirty thousand dollars per gram means this box holds thirty million dollars of Tritium." The only trick was finding someone to buy it.

"Is it enough? We have several liters of this material," Nassana questioned them. "We manufactured extra for our power conduit and didn't need to use all of it."

"You have several liters of this stuff? As in real liters?" Frankie kept staring at the stuff.

"Several, yes. We can provide two more liters easily if you require more." Nassana knew it was valuable. At least to them in the construction of the power conduit. Beyond that it was worthless.

"Ninety million dollars!?" Frankie was still in shock. As was Liz, Rick and even Kate since she could understand that amount of money.

"We'll take them, all of them you can spare," Rick said.

"We will deliver them tomorrow," Nassana told them.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Everyone had gone back to trying to celebrate the birthday. Though Kate caught up to Nassana before she could leave. "Thank you for whatever that stuff is. But I have a question. Are you trying to get rid of us? Because we all like it here."

"No, we are not. Actually your being here has been very beneficial. We have been alone here for 200,000 years. Once you are gone we will be alone here for another 200,000 years. We have enjoyed your company. However, we also recognize that living here for you will require sacrifices that you do not have to make. Once you are gone no matter when that is, we will miss you. You and the others have brought…excitement to our lives. For that we will be forever thankful," Nassana assured her.

Kate hugged her and eventually felt her hug her back. "You and the others have been amazing. Even if we ever do leave here, you're definitely going to have to visit us. You and the others are family now."

"We will discuss your offer. We are glad you like the gift. I will get you the other two liters tomorrow." Nassana left her to return to the others.

"What are we going to do with ninety million dollars?" Frankie couldn't imagine ever spending that amount of money.

"Depends on where we move, if we move, and if we want to stay together," Liz noted.

"You don't want to stay together? You're the only friends I have and we can't find my parents." Kate felt hurt.

"Yet!" Rick said since he hadn't given up.

"I was just saying. We can talk when or if that time comes." Liz walked over to her and put an arm around her.

"I can think of one place right off. Ogem, for example," Frankie offered.

"The outer most western reaches of The Rim. I've heard of it but don't know anything about it," Rick said since he hadn't gotten around as much as these two.

"Ogem is a trading partner with Jakku and Ponemah Terminal. Those two are closer in though just barely on The Rim. It's possible we could have anything we wanted shipped in including a contractor to build what we want." Liz had heard of the place.

"It's mostly desert but not all of it. We could use this place to scan it and find the right spot to build if we wanted," Frankie suggested. "Starting immediately, actually. Sell some of this stuff and hire a contractor to build what we want. Right after we find an architect and engineers."

"You'll come with us if we leave?" Kate was hearing a lot of _us_ in this conversation.

"If you're going to let us pick the spot, you have a deal," Frankie said to her with a smile.

"Sounds like you have a job, husband," Liz said.

"I knew my big mouth was going to get me into trouble," Frankie moaned. "At least we know where to get the moisture farms from."

"Our old place." Liz pointed at him. "Kate and I can start on the compound we want while you look. But first we have another target to hit."

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"So what are we doing today?" Frankie inquired as he settled into his chair and warmed up all of the fighters systems.

"Today might be a test of your quick jumping skills. There are three major food and material spaceports with warehouses nearby. However, I'm betting the first shot you get off will get fighters headed your way. So be ready to jump to the next one before jumping home," Liz cautioned him.

"Won't that just get them to steal from the outer planets even more?" Frankie didn't want to make this harder on the outer planets than it already was.

"That's why the scanners that exist on this planet are military now after we destroyed the others earlier. For civilian cargo ships to gain access to the system they need that scanner system. Fortunately for us the two don't talk. Military are coded while the civilian is not. Unless the military wants to share their codes no more civilian cargo ships," Liz informed him.

"I'm glad you're on our side," Frankie commented since in his mind his wife was the devil.

"I'll be happy to quit this, do something else, and never have to do this again." To go back to being just his wife and a mother.

Frankie got off two shots before fighters in the area started to show up. Granted none of them knew exactly where he was but one might get lucky and crash into him. If one did that it would verify to the military what was happening and how.

In fact he only got two shots off at each site before jumping for home and stopping for a few days.

Granted the military had their own cargo ships except the number they had was a fraction of the ones the civilian companies had. They stood no chance of getting in enough food to feed the entire planet.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick had been doing research while Liz and Frankie did their attack until he was happy and had something to show everyone else. Since he doubted that Kate and the kids were in their new room he started with the cafeteria thinking Kate was stealing snacks for the kids.

However, he was wrong so he headed for the park since that was the only other real place this outpost had. As modern as it was, it was tiny and you could feel trapped really fast.

Opening the door all he heard was laughter which he was certain included Kate. Following the laughter he saw them all on the lying on the ground laughing which didn't make any sense so he just watched.

Then Kate was up and going up the barely there hill that was in the park. He watched as happy smiling kids chase her up the hill then they all lay down again. Head to toe, head to toe, and head to toe.

"Ready? …GO!" Kate yelled and proceeded to roll down the hill. Right behind her were both kids. Naturally none of them went exactly straight and while reaching the bottom didn't seem to matter since they were all laughing all the way down.

It only took a few seconds and when they reached the bottom Kate was up and trying to tickle both of them at the same time. All the kids did was laugh and not try to get away. Though Kate stopped after a few seconds.

That was when Rick showed himself and instantly heard, "Daddy!" He scooped up his son and sat down next to Kate who in turn scooped up Kateryn, placed her in her lap, and scooted closer to her husband.

"You're amazingly good at this," Rick mentioned since he was really proud of her.

"I love them, both of them. Don't I, little monkey?" Kate tickled Kateryn for a second getting her to squirm and laugh. "So did you find anything?" Kate knew Rick had stopped looking for her invisible parents for now and had gone looking for a place on the planet Frankie had talked about.

"I did and we can go over it after the other two show up. Maybe after dinner when these two are in bed." Rick hugged his son. He would ask his son if he wanted to live in a desert but he was only a year old so he went where his parents went.

Rick told her what she already knew since they'd previously talked about it. "Preschool starts at 3 or 4 years old, so we need to buy, create a plan, and start construction in a few months if we are going to do this."

"I don't think we have a choice, babe. These two need friends. We can all survive here but can we live here?" It was all about the kids for Kate.

"Which is why we're doing this." Rick knew they didn't have a choice. "We just need to decide where and have it ready for us when we get there after we win." That was what tonight was going to be for.

"Mama!" Liz had been spotted after entering the park in search of her daughter.

Kate held onto her since she didn't want her running to reach her mommy and falling on her face and ruining everything.

Liz plucked her daughter out of Kate's arms and kissed her a couple of times. "Are you having fun with Kate?"

"How did it go?" Rick questioned her since he might have had the idea, but it was Liz who was implementing it.

"We just put an end to one planet getting food and other things easily. They can still get supplies but those ships are going to have to find a new way to land and a new place to unload it." Liz was happy with the results so far.

Kate groaned and they both heard it.

"We're not killing anyone, Kate. We're just making their lives miserable. The military may do all the work, but it's the rich civilians that can change the way the Alliance leaders can think and react. Those are the people we are trying to reach," Liz explained yet again.

"They are going to start to think it's the Browns all over again and strike back," Rick mentioned.

"Actually, they already have. I've monitored that several people have been picked up for questioning. A few may be tortured for information since that's just how the Alliance does things. Most, though, simply use drugs to get the answers they want quickly.

"The need to find out what is going on and stopping it is now paramount in the military as best I can tell. This place can actually read encrypted communications so I have a good idea what's going on. They're starting to get desperate. Right where we want them to be." Liz knew they weren't ready to come to the table yet.

In fact they were nowhere near ready, but they were getting there. The Alliance still had the military to enforce its will and until that changed they weren't going to talk. The super rich would simply take what they want from where ever they can and to hell with everyone else.

"We're getting there. I just don't know how much longer. That isn't really up to us." How the Alliance reacted would tell Liz how much longer they had to keep doing this.

Frankie was cooking tonight while Liz stayed with Kate and Rick and had some fun with the kids.

Since they had plenty of dirt it was dig a hole hour. A little water later and it was now mud hour which turned out to be even more fun for the kids. Apparently getting dirty and muddy was incredibly fun.

Once that was over it was an hour of fun in the tub before going to bed after having a really light dinner of a mixture of new baby food.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Everyone including Nassana was down in the Gateway room. Nassana used the device to show what Rick had found.

"This is Ogem," Nassnna announced. "This is the largest city on Ogem."

"Take us the spot I found," Rick asked her.

"Oooo." Kate liked the look of the place.

What they were all looking at was basically a lake that had an island in the middle. The island itself was too small to build on, however, it and the land around the lake had a number of palm trees, other trees, and green brush.

Everything around it was sand, but it sure looked nice. Plus not that far away was a mountain range.

"I don't remember reading anything about this place," Frankie pointed out.

"It gets better. Nassana here has done some research of her own for me. Some miles away is an untapped source of Hihi'irokane," Rick told them.

That had Frankie looking at Rick in shock. "That stuff is worth a fortune," Frankie said. "So what's the catch? It couldn't be just this simple."

"It's not. This far out in the sand are two things. Nassana?" He needed her to show them one and he didn't care which came first.

"This is something we've come to call a Thri-kreen. We believe that they're a nomadic group," Rick explained.

"What they are looking at looks vaguely like a large ant standing on two legs with four arms. This one was carrying a large spear that had a vicious looking metal tip and a blunt metal end on the other end. It was a little thin save for the forearms on two of the arms. It was easy to see its two big eyes.

At almost seven feet tall though its weight was hard to judge, it was sandy brown in color with a touch of green. "The group we saw consisted of two adults and four smaller ones. Where they live we have no clue," Rick informed them.

"One group means more than one group. Maybe several all over," Frankie speculated.

"What's the other one?" Liz asked since he had mentioned two.

"This one is a recording since I presently do not see one," Nassana said and brought it up on the Gateway screen.

Kate was ready to scream over this one.

It was really large. Its body was covered in thick, layered plates. Its head was bullet-shaped, similar to that of a shark, with a massive mouth filled with multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth.

"It erupted out of the sand and chased down this group of Thri-kreen," Rick said. "It's clearly a predator and fond of meat. Anyone's, it would seem. This one, we're thinking, finds a spot, burrows down, and stays there until something comes along."

"You want us to move there!?" Kate wasn't sure she even wanted to set foot on the planet, let alone live there.

"Not to worry, love. We already have some security all planned out. We'll know if anyone gets close and even this guy won't want to enter. We have designs in place," Rick tried to reassure her.

"So when do we start designing what we want to live in since where we could be building looks nice." Liz queried.

"We are taking care of that," Nassana stated. "We are trying to use available materials for the construction. We will be coordinating with you while we design. We have the initial design parameters. We will speak with each of you asking what you require."

"I do have a request, Nassana. I know there are ten of you here. The question I have for you is this: Are all ten required to man and maintain this station? I want to know if one or even two of you have any interest in joining us? You can have the others use the Gateway to check in on you and us," Rick asked her.

"YES! Please? You're family now." Kate added her voice.

"You could possibly switch out every year. You've lived here 200,000 plus years. You might like a change," Rick said.

"We will discuss your offer and let you know. Thank you, Commander." Nassana couldn't commit to anything without talking to the others.


	22. Chapter 22

**Firefly**

_Chapter 22_

_It is now 3 months later_

Liz knew this day had to come eventually. The Alliance was hurting and believed that some holdout Browns were fighting them back somehow so the Alliance had resorted to threats. One of the outer planets currently had nine Alliance military ships in orbit. The Alliance had announced that they would start bombing the planet and kill everyone if the people attacking them didn't turn themselves over. They had given them a deadline. Though they had conducted a bombing run an hour later but nothing since.

Everyone was aware of it. Frankie was sitting in his seat and warming up his systems with Liz and Rick this time right behind him. Kate had the kids in the kitchen. While the kids weren't much help she had them helping her make cookies. Mostly they were telling her which cookie they wanted and what they thought should go into a cookie.

A good part of the time they were in the way, however, Kate was great at this and was using what she wanted to use and effectively lying to them that this was what they'd asked for.

Then when the first batch came out and were cool enough to eat she gave each of them a cookie. "Is that the cookie you asked for?" Kate asked them. What she got back was a lot of smiles as both of them stuffed their face with a cookie while crumbs fell to the floor. "I knew you would like it," Kate told them and continued to bake cookies.

The really fancy cookies would come when they were older and actually helpful besides good at eating cookies.

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"What's the plan, boss?" Frankie was ready.

"We're going to respond. I want you at Chinon. Once there I want you to remain outside of the planet's orbit. Give it a quick scan. Then any military ship you find under the gross weight of a Longbow class I want you to attack and destroy. I want you to ignore anything else.

"Then you're going to jump to Bablicon and attack the Crete class that's sitting in orbit. All ten million tons of it and start blowing holes in it. I'm betting the admiral for this little fleet will be on that ship. After that we decide. Just be ready to jump for home," Liz said.

Frankie broke into a smile. He'd been wanting to test this fighter on the biggest ship the Alliance had ever built. A Crete class was a real monster and if the Alliance was going to bomb the planet the only ship they had in orbit that was capable of that was this Crete class ship.

"I have all green. Programming in first jump location and…jumping." As usual they saw a flash of light on their screen and the next was what they could see of the planet that was their destination.

"Scanning. Wow, they must have brought every ship they have out of storage they could find crew for. I'm reading one Tohoku class, four Trebuchet class, and eight old Patrol Boats. All the fighters are in the atmosphere." Frankie gave the engines a little kick and moved a little so he had a better line on the Tohoku class. All 5.5 million tons of it.

Liz offered an idea of how to fight it. "Stick with the engine area, babe. Deprive it of power and it's just another hunk of junk in orbit."

"Locking on target and…firing," Frankie announced. Just like all the other shots a ball filled with lightning struck out and touched the Alliance ship, causing damage. Two shots later and they all watched as the Alliance ship suddenly and unexpectedly just blew up in spectacular fashion.

"That was unexpected. I must have hit a vulnerable spot or simply gotten lucky." Frankie had wanted to at least see it go black. This was even better.

"Locking on my next target and…firing." Frankie started work on one of the Trebuchets that were each at 190 thousand tons. One more shot and it blew up just as spectacularly as the Tohoku class had.

"Looks like I have the attention of the Patrol Boats." Frankie watched as all of them broke orbit.

"See if you can bring them to you then jump to a new location and keep firing," Liz suggested.

Three shots later and another Trebuchet class blew up spectacularly.

"Plotting new jump location." Frankie saw all of the Patrol boats coming out his way. They may not be able to see him but they could see the weapon that he fired. Simply triangulate where those came from and that's where they should look.

Three shots later and he had one more Trebuchet to go. Patrol Boats were just that. They weren't meant to operate outside of the planet they were constructed on. They lacked the ability and fuel to make it to another planet. The Trebuchet on the other hand, could.

Three more shots and the last of the four Trebuchet was gone. "Here come the Patrol Boats again. Programming for the next jump," Frankie said.

"Jumping in 3…2…1. Jump complete. Still all greens. Commencing scan." Frankie thought this fight was going to be the real test.

"Jeez, I'm reading one Crete class at 10 million tons, one Tohoku class at 5.5 million tons, Three Longbow class at 640 thousand tons and four Victoria class at 80 thousand tons. I've heard of bigger fleets but this guy means business." Frankie was impressed.

"Engaging engines since I need to get into position first." Though as he did he saw something. "The Victoria class are breaking orbit," Frankie announced.

"Probably in response to a subspace message about what we've just done," Liz said. She really hated being here right now. This was not where she wanted to be. Attacking Alliance military ships including a Crete class was inevitable, but not like this.

"Just like last time, babe. Fire on the Crete class engineering section until it goes dark then move to another target. Just be ready to jump for home." These guys were bigger and more dangerous. Patrol Boats were only really big fighters for the most part.

"Locking on target and…firing," Frankie said.

He got off one more shot before the Crete class started firing blindly at where they thought he might be.

"Nice light show. One more shot then I'm moving." Frankie did just that after he fired his third shot.

Two shots later and they could tell they were doing some real damage.

"Uh-oh. I'm reading a number of ships leaving the Crete and Tohoku class. Scans suggest all bombers." Frankie was angry now.

"Making good on their threat," Liz muttered.

"Well now they've pissed me off. You should just learn to take your medicine and like it!" Frankie talked to them and not the two behind him.

Frankie gave the Crete class three more shots when he got an alert. "I've got a Victoria class inbound. Looks like they may have found a way to find me.

"One more shot then I'm jumping to the Tohoku class." A moment later his screen flashed white then his screen was filled with the rear end of a Tohoku class.

"Maybe a little close." Frankie wasn't sure this was where he had wanted to be, but he locked onto his target and fired.

Another alert had him looking. "I'm reading secondary explosions already. Might be time to move." Frankie spun, faced the Crete class, and applied power.

Since the Mohoku class was right behind him and the Crete class had its main weapons right up front he stopped his engines and just coasted.

"Let's see if I can do damage to this end before I go chasing bombers." Frankie did a scan to try and find everyone so he could plan ahead a little.

"Liz, scans show the Crete class, whatever its name is, is dark." Frankie was a little surprised. This thing was a monster and a normal fighter should have stood no chance against it.

"I have an idea." It was a bit dangerous and maybe stupid but if it worked it would solve a lot of problems. "Programming my next to last jump, and…jumping."

Frankie was right where he wanted to be this time. He was at the maximum reported range of his weapon. He locked onto the Crete class ship and fired.

"Scans show secondary explosions." Frankie was happy.

"Better get out of there, babe," Liz advised.

"Already way ahead of you. Jumping for home…now." A typical flash and a moment later Frankie was docking in the landing bay.

"Think it worked?" Frankie was curious since if it did it would save the planet.

"Only one way to find out." Liz headed for Rick's desk in his old quarters that she was using to determine where they attacked next.

Using his desk was a variation of using the Gateway. Technically she wasn't opening the Gateway, she was using a recording that they used to monitor the progress of not just the Alliance territories but also everywhere else. If they were going to stay hidden they needed to know what was going on.

Now Liz had her husband and Rick behind her. "Let's see what happened." Liz started a replay a little before Frankie jumped for home.

They watch as Frankie's shot came from nowhere and struck the Crete class ship and kept watching. Then another one came out and headed for the ship.

"That should have been my last shot before I jumped. My scans said internal explosions," Frankie mentioned.

Then they watched as the Crete class ship blew up and emitted this tremendous blast wave that caused the destruction of other ships around it.

"HOLY SHIT!" Rick had never seen anything like it before. "We never even came close to destroying a Crete class during the war. The damn things are so fracking big they were so impossible to destroy. Plus they were surrounded by other ships and waves of fighters."

"We actually have no idea what they use as a power source. Though seeing a wave like that gives us a clue. That pulse wave released something that destroyed everything within range. That Tohoku class, those Victoria class, and all the bombers that Crete class launched," Liz noted.

Frankie huffed out a laugh. "The single largest ship victory we had during the entire war." He couldn't believe it. "All thanks to one little fighter. That little Firefly hasn't even been hit yet to test the force field or the armor."

"You better make sure it never is tested, husband. That fighter is all we have. We lose it and this war is over. Everything we've done to date will be for nothing.

"Do you read me, soldier!" Liz turned on him since she knew back in the day she outranked her husband who outranked Rick.

"Loud and clear, sir!" Frankie was pissed. She had never done that except before they became a couple and certainly not after they got married.

"Don't screw this up, babe. We lost last time and look what happened to us. We lose again and it'll get worse. A lot worse," Liz cautioned him.

Frankie relaxed. "Yeah." She had a point and he knew it. "What's next, boss?"

That had Liz smiling since her husband wasn't mad at her any longer. "We study what they do for a few days after this. They've learned something today. So we wait to see what they do with that knowledge. They've never been in this position before." Liz really had no idea just what they were going to do.

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Nassana found them in the cafeteria and got all of them to gather around her.

"We have utilized the site you have shown us and this is what we have come up with to date. We are suggesting two large, I believe the term is Haciendas, on each side.

"For Liz and Frankie we have this." She showed them a floor plan. "The front door leads into an inner walled courtyard, trees, plants, and a little grass. That leads to the second door. This door opens onto a second inner courtyard that is larger. Mostly tile with with small areas of grass in each corner. Three of which will have trees while the fourth will have an outdoor intimate dining area.

"The Master suite is on one side and bedrooms two and three with a bathroom on the other. Kitchen in the corner and library in the other. In-between are the dining and living room.

"Up these stairs is the second floor above that same area. On the second floor is the family room, game room, and bathroom number three. Any garage building will be an out building"

"Now for Rick and Kate we have another Hacienda house. We have an open drive with a statue to someone in the middle. The drive goes to either side where there will be a garage to store transportation. To either side of the entrance can be a guest room with a bathroom for each.

"You pass under an enclosed bridge into the main center courtyard. What is in here is yet to be decided. Given that you have chosen a desert environment any amount of water is not suggested.

To the right is the library and master suite. To the left is media room, game room, and an office. Across the back are the dining room, kitchen, and great room. The great room will have thirty foot ceilings. Above the dining and kitchen are bedrooms two and three with bathrooms for each.

"Above the office and media rooms is a sitting room with a covered bridge leading to bedroom four with a bathroom. There is also a second living room with a fireplace. The entire second floor has floor to ceiling windows looking out onto the courtyard.

"Power for both places is handled by available solar panels and available wind farms. Potable water is supplied by drilling down to the aquifer that is not overly deep.

"For the island we are suggesting a bridge from each house. While on the island itself we are suggesting a barn to hold two horses on one end. On the other we are suggesting a common cooking area with a pergola and two small beach changing rooms for swimming.

Questions?" Nassana was done.

The four adults sat there, not sure just what to think. One was clearly larger than the other and yet both were really big.

Frankie and Liz had been making do living in a dome building that would fit in their new courtyard.

Kate had never even dreamed of living in a place so large. "The fourth bedroom, sitting area and living room areas are yours. You are moving with us."

"We have discussed your offer. At the moment we have agreed to one person per house for one year then cycle between the others for another year each. However we have not yet given up on you finding your parents. They would get the fourth bedroom, sitting and living room." Kate was ready to hug Nassana.

Rick, however, had a question. "Why the barn and horses?" If they were each going to have some type of transportation that needed a garage so why horses?

"You selected to live in a desert and expressed a wish that the house look Spanish using an adobe brick look. That told us white one foot thick outer walls. Orange tile roofs and wood accents for garage doors and balconies.

"This suggested to us that you might want horses for entertainment. And they could be ridden if one of you decided to go out hunting for meat instead of buying your food.

"If having two horses isn't enough we could remove the two guest cabins with a wood gate with a larger barn that could hold more horses to either side with the same wood gate in the middle," Nassana offered.

They were still speechless and didn't know just what to think.

"I can give you some time to think it over and offer changes or reject what we have come up with and we can start again." Nassana began to get up to leave.

"NO! …I mean I don't want you to start over. I just never expected to live in any place that looked like this. You and the others are amazing!" Kate loved it but just wasn't sure what she was going to do with so much space.

"We have also found a reputable contractor that is capable of building this. We estimate two plus years to construct all of it. Closer to three, actually, provided that he does not have any major delays.

"We have also found two places that might be interested in purchasing all three liters that you will need to sell to pay for his. We are still looking into what transportation devices are available that can be transported to your planet of choice," Nassana added and walked out on them.

"I don't believe these people." Liz was still shocked.

"How did you find this place again?" Frankie questioned Rick still in shock.

"Totally by accident. Their cloaking device wasn't working properly so bits of this place kept popping up." It sounded simple even if nearly impossible.

"And you think you have Demons haunting your soul? I'm sorry my friend but you have Angels looking after you. Both of you," Frankie argued.

"Serious Angels. They sent you to Kate and here you both are. Demons didn't have anything to do with that!" Liz hugged Kate with one arm when she spotted Kate wiping away tears.

"Back to the houses." Frankie redirected the subject. "This is just the floor plan. I'm really interested in just what they're thinking for interiors. So far they're reading my mind."

"I want to know if this area is available for purchase? Surely someone knows about this place, so why doesn't someone own this yet?" Liz inquired.

Rick shrugged. "My guess is that shark head thing in the ground and those nomads."

"Speaking of which?" Liz wondered.

"How do we keep them out of our compound? Burst up out of the ground and eat our horses, if we have horses, let alone eat us," Frankie asked.

"How many acres can we purchase?" Liz added.

"These two are being really quiet," Kate said since neither of the kids had said a word since Nassana had started. "You think they know something's happening?" Kate was worried about them. They were almost never this quiet.

"We can take them to Liara after this," Rick said, if that would make her happy.

"Can you believe that they're willing to come with us? Granted it's only two but she talked about cycling through the others." Liz was a little surprised at that.

"They're family. Maybe they've finally figured that out," Kate stated and went back to looking at her son trying to figure him out.

"I'll look our home over but I don't see anything I would want to change. Save for maybe something besides those two guest rooms. Need something besides that. I just don't know what," Rick commented.

"I like the horses. The kids could learn to ride them. I just don't know anything about horses. What do we feed them? What if they get sick?" Kate began to worry her lower lip.

"She has a point." Liz hated to admit it since horses did sound nice but she didn't know anything about horses, either. "How big is the closest city again?" Not that any of them knew so it was something they would need to do some research on.

"Sounds like the horses are gone. But I'm with Rick, I don't really see anything to change. We need to talk about interiors, though." Frankie got Liz to nod her head.

Then Frankie chuckled. "We still have to talk about this mine to reach what they've found. We need to buy all the land. Go get our hydro generators and plant them again." Frankie kept on chuckling until he stopped. "You think we could move our dome to where the mine is just in case? Too tired to go home?"

"We can talk about it while we talk about interiors." Liz smiled at him since she was already deciding on what she wanted to see and how she was going to get it.


	23. Chapter 23

**Firefly**

_Chapter 23_

_It is now one month later_

They'd only attacked the Alliance twice since their big victory destroying that Crete class and its escorts. Probably an Alliance admiral right along with it. Liz had returned to attacking the core planets themselves, leaving the Alliance military ships alone. The idea was to get the civilians screaming at the powers that be on each planet for them to put an end to this.

Liz's really big worry was that the Alliance in response would start to attack planets and start killing people thinking that would get them to stop or perhaps bring them into a serious up front confrontation with one of their fleets.

Frankie found Liz in Rick and Kate's old room looking over everything and where everyone was that could be found.

"You look serious. What's up?" Frankie began massaging her shoulders and smiled when she leaned back and let him work on her neck and shoulders.

"Did you see something missing during out last two attacks?" Liz questioned him.

That had Frankie thinking. His fighter was still doing everything perfectly. The Androids that did maintenance on the fighter had told both of them that the fighter was down for a week. They wanted to do more than just a little maintenance on it. What none of them wanted was for the jump drive to suddenly fail and making getting home a big problem so they planned to take it apart and rebuild it.

"Still lots of fighters. Three of the six planets are hurting. You tell me." Frankie was done guessing.

"We killed those nine ships and our last attack only had small ships. We knew coming into this that the Alliance had three of those Crete class and we just destroyed one of them. So where are the other two? For that matter where's the rest of the fleet? I have a really bad feeling about this, babe, and it just won't go away," Liz said worriedly.

Frankie stopped working on her shoulders. "They're afraid to lose another one, maybe?" he said but immediately shook his head. He knew the minute he'd said it that that wasn't the answer.

"They wouldn't dare. They need those planets to make food and send it to them. We haven't really killed that many people and they still need to feed them." Frankie was thinking what he thought she was. That they had plans to force them into a confrontation.

"No, and the planet they did threaten wasn't a big food producing planet. So are they all headed for one planet or have they broken up into several groups to hit several planets all at the same time?" Liz asked him.

"What if they've worked out that we really are a small group and found a new way to attack them that they can't follow but have decided it's the Browns doing it." Liz raked her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"It could be aliens from deep space who are on our side. Which if you think about it is the truth." Frankie watched his wife tilt her head back to look up at him. "Yeah, it's not that," he agreed easily.

"We have just the one fighter. As powerful as it is, and it hasn't even been hit yet to find out just how powerful, it's still just the one. So what's the plan then?" Frankie inquired since his wife was running this show.

"One or several planets, there's only one answer. We let them," Liz told him.

"WE WHAT!?" His wife had lost her mind.

"You said it yourself. We have only the one fighter which means we can't save everyone. However, if we can time this properly… You go to one of the core planets, stay there and destroy everything you can find on the planet itself. For now ignore any ships in orbit. Which last we knew were all Patrol Boats," Liz said.

"And how does that help those people the Alliance is about to wipe out?" Frankie asked her since it was going to mean a lot of deaths.

"Think about it. Your ships are getting into position to bomb a planet and do a lot of damage. Then suddenly you get word that one of your core planets is under all out attack and not just a hit and run, which is what we have been doing." Liz waited patiently to hear his reaction.

"You either stay and make your attack, which will be them condemning one of their precious core planets to almost total destruction; you'll have millions with nothing. OR, you run for home as fast as you can in an attempt at catching us. But they won't since I'll just jump somewhere else," Frankie said thoughtfully.

"A very dangerous choice, Liz," he pointed out.

"Yeah. If I'm wrong a lot of people die under Alliance guns." Liz knew a lot was on her shoulders. It was actually getting to her.

Frankie did his best to make her feel better. "We knew people were going to die when we started this. I'm still working on how we are doing this with one lone little fighter."

"We need to be ready, though. If we're down for maintenance there isn't going to be anything we can do about it. Go face them or go somewhere else. We'll be trapped here watching it, unable to do anything about it.

"If we have any luck at all left, babe, this is when we could use it." Liz thought they were at a critical point in this war.

Frankie leaned down to kiss her cheek. "You ready to head for the cafeteria? Kate's cooking and Nassana is supposed to be done with both of our homes. Have answers for everything."

"Yeah." Liz turned everything off. She could do with some good news and cuddles from her happy daughter. Maybe soak up some of her innocent enthusiasm for life.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Nassana! Are you eating with us?" Liz teased her and waved off any reply since they all knew she didn't eat.

"Before we begin," Nassana waved at Kate since she had something she needed to tell them.

"We're running really low on food. We have that one replicator but we could really use some food to cook with," Kate shared with them.

"I thought sure you were going to tell us you were pregnant." Liz was all smiles.

Kate lit up since she'd been thinking about just that. But were they ready for that? "My tubes are still tied. …Babe?" Were they going to talk about this now?

Rick deflected her question for later. "What have you got, Nassana?"

"You asked about security. We need to manufacture rods here that will be driven into the ground a certain distance from each house. This will prevent what you are calling a Land Shark from entering your property. As for what we are calling the Thri-kreen we can install motion sensors around your entire property. This will alert you to when anyone enters your property from any direction. What you do if or when someone does is up to you.

"Now Rick and Kate's house. You did not see the need for the guest quarters and that is your choice. You also eliminated the horses so we cannot replace those with horse stables.

"With security in mind we have two suggestions. First, replace one of the guest quarters with a security room. All of the equipment that will monitor your security can be located there. We can add mobile pads that you can use to monitor the system.

Second–" Nassana was interrupted.

"Mama me hungie," Caleb announced since he was hungry and everyone was just talking and not feeding him.

"We'll be eating soon. It's still cooking, little man." Kate kissed his cheek. At roughly a year and a half he might even get certain parts of it.

"Second, we can replace the other guest room with a very secure safe room. Safe enough that you would need to use explosives to gain entrance to it. Its location might be the only problem with this idea."

"How do we reach it when we're on the second floor when there's an alarm? Do we have enough time to reach it?" Rick understood what she was talking about.

"Correct, Commander. Now Frankie and Liz's house. To install a safe room for this house is easy. There is a space between the kitchen and the second bathroom that can be enclosed and made very secure. Right now there is a door leading to the outside. It can be removed and the space enclosed," Nassana explained.

"Mama?" Caleb tugged on her shirt. He was still hungry.

"The oven alarm hasn't sounded yet, little man, so we all have to wait." Kate hugged him and kissed his head. "A few more minutes."

"Mama?" Since Caleb was complaining so should Kateryn.

"Soon. You heard Kate. Not until the oven alarm sounds." Liz should have known but she was caught by surprise.

"We are suggesting tile floors everywhere. The reason for this is that the tile will absorb the heat during the day and discharge it at night. Color is your choice.

"As for colors we think you have three options for the interior since the exterior is going to be white. White, beige, and a soft yellow. There will be exposed wood beams in each room. What color the beams are is up to you.

"Arched windows and doors everywhere. Some are wider and taller than others. You still have some decisions to make including whether you want panic rooms and where you want them. This pad is yours. We need to arrange a date for you to sell your liters and then go purchase the land as well as go buy more food. Let one of us know when you are ready." Nassana left them to their dinner.

Kate was cutting up what Caleb would and could eat. She sat him in his highchair and gave him his supper. Then she turned to talk to Rick. "Colors. I'm not sure I want white in and white out so maybe beige in some rooms and that soft yellow in others. As for all that wood, maybe as natural as possible."

"Actually I was thinking a soft green behind the bed with wood beams and wood ceiling. The seating area can be smooth and beige," Rick suggested.

"That sounds nice." Kate was onboard. "Floors?"

"Dark wood in the bedroom and terracotta colored tiles outside in the courtyard and in the kitchen. After that we need to talk," Rick said.

"Babe?" Liz questioned him so she could shoot him down.

"Pretty much what Rick said except maybe the green in the bedroom. However, I like the idea of wood beams and wood ceiling in some areas. Not sure I want beige everywhere. There needs to be some color," Frankie insisted.

It actually surprised her. She knew they usually saw eye to eye when it came to decor so maybe she shouldn't be surprised.

"Terracotta orange pots out in the courtyard. Big ones." Rick had a sudden inspiration and used his hands to show how tall he wanted them to be. "It'll be cool. …Do they still say cool?" Rick queried which got Frankie and Liz to laugh.

"I say cool." Kate rescued him even if she didn't remember the last time she used the word.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

They spent a day selling their liters of incredibly expensive liquid on three different planets and had the money sent to three different banks. Then they used the Gateway one more time and found out the land was indeed for sale and it was a steal. In fact the place that owned all 346 acres of land that was a lot of the land on the other side of the mountain range couldn't sell it fast enough.

Then they spent the rest of the day making sure the sale was legal and binding.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"He really didn't know what was out there." Frankie was still laughing as he and the others stepped through the Gateway to get back home. "If we can mine what's there we will be rich all over again. Can you believe that guy? And we're saving his ass. That's just not right."

"Contractor is next please, Nassana. Who has the pad with the designs on it?" Liz asked as Rick held it up since he'd taken it everywhere with him to make sure he had it.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"We're back!" Rick entered their cabin and Kate put her finger to her lips so he would talk a lot softer or maybe not talk at all. He saw Caleb and Kateryn sleeping on a makeshift bed on the floor of the living room. Then Kate took him into one of the two bedrooms.

"What's going on?" Rick didn't get it.

"Sleepover. You three were gone, they got tired so I turned it into a sleepover. I left Frankie and Liz a note telling them where Kateryn was. Though they could probably guess that," Kate explained.

"We have two bedrooms, you know," Rick reminded her of the obvious so why were they on the floor?

"A boy and a girl in the same bed? Really!?" Kate suddenly didn't understand her husband.

"Good point." Rick gave her that one. "Well, we sold it all. Bought all 346 acres and hired a contractor. He can't start for another 6 months though. We gave him one third up front, one third when he's three quarters done, and the final payment when he's done. I think he overcharged us thinking we wouldn't take it but we did. Nassana guessed correctly, if it was a guess, he was talking about almost 3 years to complete the project.

"He doesn't do mines so we're going to have to come up with someone else for that. Soon as we figure out what kind of mine we're talking about. Deep mine or strip mine. Nassana will commence finding someone for that," Rick told her quickly.

"So we're really going to do this?" Kate's eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"This was your idea. You wanted our son to go to school. Have friends. Find a girl just like you, fall in love and have kids," Rick reminded her.

"Did I say that?" Kate smiled coyly at him. "Maybe we could practice making another baby?" She still had lots of drug in her system.

Rick raised an eyebrow. "With two kids in the next room?"

Kate groaned. She needed sex but she wasn't willing to maybe wake the kids. Now she didn't know what to do. She needed him but she was the mommy.

Then there was a knock on their door; it opened to show Liz. "I came to collect my daughter. Do you want us to take Caleb, too?" Liz smiled at her.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate collapsed on Rick with his cock still inside her. Damn, but sex with him had always been good.

"So did I do good?" Rick asked her.

"Yeah, better than ever," Kate grinned while she rested on him.

"Arranging for Liz to come get the kids was a good idea then?" Rick asked her.

"Yes. …Wait." Kate sat up and he almost came out of her. "You arranged that?"

"Well I _am _ married to the woman I love who just happens to be full of a certain drug. Besides if we're going to have another child we need to do it while we're here so Liara can change out his or her blood a couple of times." Rick kissed the palm of her hand.

"You…you… I… Baby?" Kate wasn't sure just when or if she should ask him or if she should tell him that she was ready for another baby. "You want to have a baby?"

"I thought you wanted to have a baby. Being a mommy is who you are. Who you were born to be." In his eyes she was the best.

"I…I…I love you." Kate leaned down and kissed him.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Turned out having her tubes untied had been very fast and very easy. "Give them a couple of days to adjust to the new position and you should be fine. Another child." Liara tried to think of what that would mean. "We are going to need his or her blood type after the birth and then obtain more blood. You are going to need more formula since your breast milk will contain the drug. Formula first, blood later. Congratulations." Liara was happy for her.

"You are coming to the new house, aren't you?" Kate needed to make sure.

"We have not yet decided who will be going first, however, yes I will be there. Each of us will be there eventually. Provided your plan on gaining independence from the Alliance works. If not that planet may no longer be a viable option…for any of us." She agreed with Liz. If this failed in some way the Alliance was going to be even more vicious than they already were toward the outer planets.

That had Kate looking at Rick. She'd tried to stay out of it since all this violence just wasn't her.

"It'll work. It needs to work," Rick said. If it didn't the number of demons after his soul were going to increase.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Are we cleared for action?" Liz sat down behind Frankie after being told they were good to go.

"They replaced a few parts but I'm told we're good. Where are we going?" Frankie had learned his lesson. This was all his wife's show.

"Most of their fleet is still missing which makes me nervous," Liz said. "Even this place can't track ships in FTL yet. I can't help but feel that they're up to something. The latest scans show that the only ships in orbit around all six core planets are a lot of Patrol Boats. We're talking close to 40 per planet."

"Might be enough for them to actually hit me a few times. So what are we after today?" Frankie asked her again.

"We've eliminated only the one orbital shipyard that they use to make the big ships given that others like Patrol Boats are constructed on the planet. I want you to work on destroying the other five.

"Destroying the shipyards for Crete and Tohoku class should be relatively easy. They're just framework that almost surrounds them for construction with locations for storage of material. If you haven't used up all your jumps you can attack the space elevator for the Crete class. Maybe a mayday call can get them to come running," Liz offered.

"It will be a pleasure." Frankie smiled an evil smile that should have the Alliance worried. But since they couldn't see him, they weren't.

Frankie left the landing bay and saw nothing but green. "Here we go. Starting the clock for jump number one." They both saw the common flash of white and the shipyard was squarely in front of him.

"Commencing scan. …I have 39 Patrol boats in and out of orbit, two of which are actually behind me. The normal fighter patrols are in the atmosphere. Locking on target and…firing."

It took two shots before the Patrol Boats started looking in earnest for him. Their problem was that simply firing blindly might mean hitting another Patrol Boat.

Four shots were all it took for the shipyard to start to lose orbit. "Starting the clock for jump number two."

A flash of white later and four shots later and another shipyard was losing orbit and headed for the planet where it would crash and destroy whatever parts of it landed on.

"Starting the clock for jump number three." A flash of light and Frankie arrived and did his scan. "Looks like the word is out already." Frankie saw 42 Patrol Boats already moving around and fighters were leaving the planet to join the defense of the shipyard.

"Crete class shipyard?" Liz inquired, thinking that it might be last.

"I was afraid they would try to protect it too well before I could get here," Frankie said as he locked the shipyard on his scanner and fired. The skies were getting really crowded. "I just took a hit," he told Liz. "Correction, make that two. Firing up the engines." He needed to move before they figured out they'd actually hit something.

What was left of the shipyard was starting to tumble toward the planet. "Locking target for the upper space elevator…and firing." It vanished after being enveloped by his weapon. Then he spun in place and started firing on Patrol Boats that had gotten too close for comfort.

"Starting the clock for the next jump." Frankie and Liz saw the flash of white and he was outside of yet another shipyard that looked very similar to the last one.

"Yikes!" Frankie hated the look of this one even more. "Space is packed with Patrol Boats and fighters everywhere." He got off two shots before space became one big fireworks display as weapons fire was going everywhere. The shipyard was damaged but it might not fall from orbit.

"Where are you going?" Liz asked him since it looked like he was headed for the planet. She knew he'd actually been hit three times this time. His force field had taken the hits and he was basically undamaged.

"Too big a mess up here. I'm going down to the ground-based space elevator and all the warehouses around it," Frankie said.

He fired six shots at the entire complex and what the weapon didn't disintegrate, it caught on fire and caused explosions destroying even more.

"Setting the clock for the next jump." Frankie was ready to leave this place.

Four shots later and another shipyard was tumbling in pieces for the planet.

"That's four. Except they're waking up and making things difficult. I'm heading for the atmosphere. Find me a target or two then I'll jump."

"Here are your coordinates." Liz had to scramble for a target. She didn't mind since it was looking like most everyone was in space and not down here.

Frankie flew toward it and had it on his scanner. "Another substation. Very nice." In only three shots it was mostly gone and the area around it and him was now dark.

"Uh-oh. I've got a warning. I'm jumping for home." This trip was over.

Frankie and Liz only start breathing after their fighter was secured in the landing bay and Frankie was shutting everything down. Not knowing just what had gone wrong might mean a longer delay while the fighter was repaired.

"We got three for sure and both Space Elevators with a fourth being a maybe. Not bad for one lone little fighter." Liz ruffled his hair and kissed him.

"You think they're ready to talk yet?" Frankie asked her.

"With most of their military space ships still intact? No. They can still go to the outer planets and do a lot of damage. Until we can prevent that, likely not. Worse, our Firefly's damaged and out of action. Whatever they had planned, all we get to do is sit here and watch." Liz needed a plan for that.


	24. Chapter 24

**Firefly**

_Chapter 24_

It was a week later and their little fighter was still out of action. They weren't being told what was wrong or when it would be ready. However, just looking at it told them it wasn't going to be ready for maybe at least another week.

Rick being the commander had just been told that something was happening in the cafeteria. So he ran over there. He heard it before he even got the door open. It sounded like a knock-down-drag-out fight was going on. Opening the door, he was just in time to see a chair go flying with a woman's voice screaming in anger. Stepping inside he saw Liz pick up another chair and send it flying. Then she just stood there and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Commander?" Rick heard a voice behind him and turned to look. Liara was behind him and she was holding something.

"I can sedate her, Commander."

Rick looked at the room and it appeared she'd been at it for at least a few minutes. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. It looked like the kitchen itself had been spared so far. The cafeteria, however, not so much.

Then Liz fell to the floor and just sat there though they could both hear her crying.

"I think she's done. See if you can find Frankie and send him here, please," Rick asked her.

"Yes, Commander." Liara left to contact the others and help her find him and send him to the cafeteria.

Rick cautiously and carefully approached Liz until he thought he was as close as he wanted to be before sitting down in front of her. He saw her look up at him and suddenly she looked like he felt when he was certain he'd gotten all those people killed after he'd assassinated Admiral Kona at the peace meeting he had called for.

Liz wiped away her tears. Now she understood what Rick felt like so much more. Rick didn't say a thing he just sat there.

"They bombed Parth, Newhall, and Muir into near oblivion. Three fleets of over 30 ships strong. Each had a Crete class as an anchor. Hundreds of thousands of people all dead." Liz curled her legs in close and wrapped her arms around them.

She knew something was up and they could do nothing to stop them with their little fighter still broken and with parts spread out all over the landing bay.

Rick opened his mouth to say something and closed it again. His response to his demons had been a bad attempt at killing himself. Then he'd pumped Kate full of a drug that would cause her to become addicted to sex and maybe force her to love him. Give him a reason to live.

He wasn't the person Liz needed. His demons still haunted him and probably would for the rest of his life no matter what he did.

Seeing Frankie show up and lower himself down to sit next to his wife had him getting up silently and walking out of the cafeteria. He didn't get far enough away to not hear her sob loudly.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"What are those?" Kate watched Rick enter their room where she was entertaining her son and Kateryn.

"Pajamas and clothes for tomorrow for Kateryn. We're doing another sleepover," Rick told her and put the clothes in the spare bedroom. Kate followed him into the room with a questioning look on her face.

"The Alliance decided to fight back and just our luck the fighter's down for maintenance because something's wrong with it." Rick looked to make sure both kids were busy and not listening to him. Still he lowered his voice so only Kate could hear him. "They bombed 3 outer planets, killing everyone."

"Oh, dear God." Kate immediately clapped both hands over her mouth and looked out at the kids who weren't paying any attention to them.

"Frankie's with Liz in our now destroyed cafeteria. She took it pretty hard," Rick said.

Kate looked at her husband in disbelief. Hell, she was taking it hard so why wasn't he? "You're not." She didn't want to start a fight but he clearly didn't look all that hurt.

"The ghosts of those people can't reach me. My soul is already haunted by millions. When I die I'm going to Hell and there isn't anything I can do about that. A few more souls no matter how big that number is doesn't matter." Rick simply felt a little colder is all. Or warmer depending on your point of view.

"Rick!" Kate hated it when he talked like that. He was a good man. Surely he knew that.

"MAMA!" Having Caleb yell for her had her turning to look. Her son apparently needed her and yet so did her husband. Maybe she could do both at the same time. She pulled her husband with her to join the kids.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

_It is now one week later_

Frankie was sitting down in his chair, ready to take the Firefly out and exact some revenge. He more felt his wife behind him than saw her as he started warming up the various systems.

"How are you doing?" Rick asked, looking at Liz. They had all already talked to her before today. She was still hurting. Like Rick she felt those deaths were on her. Even if there was nothing she could have done about it.

"Fine, focused. Ready to make them pay for this. I've been trying to make this war uncomfortable for the powers that be. I should have known their response was going to be murdering people. It was all they did last time. I'm good." Two could play their game.

"All green and I'm out of the landing bay. Where are we going today?" Frankie inquired.

They had monitored where those shipyards had landed and how much damage that had caused. They were also watching the other shipyard slowly tumbling out of orbit. Based on the number of ships around it they were trying to save it. If they lost it they were going to be down to just one shipyard and it would take a decade to replace even one of them.

This meant mostly that the military ships they had now were all they were going to have for years.

"You're going to Kerry and wait. All three fleets have left their planets and I'm guessing that Kerry will be one of the next three. When they arrive I want you to get in nice and close. Right behind that Crete class. Then when they start launching bombers I want you to start blasting away. Just watch your scanner. Once it goes dark you need to jump farther out, start firing again, and be ready to jump for home before it blows," Liz said.

She was taking a calculated risk that one of the three fleets would show up there. She was planning to use the Crete class against the other ships. When it blew the blast wave might hopefully take out the other ships with it.

Liz turned to Rick. "I need you to monitor some of the other outer planets. I need to know where any of the fleets show up and when."

"Got it." Rick left them and headed for his old Command cabin so he could use his desk. Kate had the kids today and she had plans for a picnic outing in the park.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Frankie was in a very low orbit betting that none of the Alliance ships, if they showed up at all, would arrive this close to the planet.

Rick was watching when suddenly a large Alliance fleet popped up out of FTL. He hit the outpost intercom. "One Alliance fleet of…32 just arrived near Pelorum," Rick told literally everyone.

That had Frankie turning to look at his wife. "Stay where you are, babe." He didn't need to react to it.

Rick was still looking when Frankie got an alert. "I've got 31 Alliance ships that just arrived. I'm reading one Crete class, two Tohoku class, 19 Longbow class, 6 Trebuchet class, and 3 Victory class." Frankie was ready and waiting.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"The three big guys are the only ones entering orbit. Everyone else is spreading out to cover them. We're not going to get all of them when this Crete class blows," Frankie advised Liz.

"Just let them get settled in, babe, then move in slowly, nice and close," Liz said. "Rick, I need you to monitor that group. Forget the other one. I want you to feed me coordinates of the Crete class ship when it settles down into orbit." Liz was thinking of getting greedy.

"Got it," Rick replied and focused on these guys.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"I'm moving." Frankie used his engines to maneuver in closer. So close that even if someone did see him firing, they wouldn't see it for long.

"I'm in position. Scanning the target and…firing." Frankie watched his shot reach out and just a few seconds later strike the rear of the ship, causing damage. Smiling wide he just kept on firing. Shot, after shot, after shot. This close what he was shooting wasn't just disintegrating on him, it was exploding and flying out into space. Some of it was impacting his shield.

Then he got an alert. "Looks like the other ships know I'm here. Two more shots then I'm moving."

It only took one shot for suddenly the entire ship to go dark. One shot later and Frankie was using his engines to get some distance between it and him.

"I need to leave. I'm reading a lot of secondary explosions." Frankie wasn't sure if even his tough little fighter could survive the blast wave this thing was going to put out.

Liz gave him new jump coordinates followed by Frankie spinning hard in place, firing a single shot, then jumping. They could find out later just what happened.

"Oooo!" Frankie liked where he was now.

"Repeat, babe. Get in nice and close and give that thing hell," Liz urged him.

Frankie was more than ready. If they killed this one that would leave them with one Crete class and no way to make more without a shipyard and a space elevator to get the supplies up to the shipyard.

Frankie was blasting away when suddenly he noticed that the ship had gone dark on him. He hurriedly backed away before he decided to spin and use his engines to get even farther away.

However, that took him directly toward a lone Victoria class so he shot it and watched it vanish after his shot enveloped it, leaving literally nothing behind.

He had just spun and fired a shot when suddenly three Victoria class ships got lucky and got three hits on him.

"Last shot then I'm jumping for home," Frankie announced since they had triangulated his location and were firing again. "Jumping in 3…2…1." Frankie saw a massive explosion and the pulse wave reached out to touch every ship it could just as he vanished.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Everyone save for the Androids was in the repaired cafeteria and even Kate had a bottle of beer so they could celebrate.

"We just saved two planets from destruction." Liz raised her bottle of beer high and was smiling wide.

"Do I want to know?" Kate asked even though she was happy for them.

"We only killed two Crete class, five Tohoku class, and three Victoria class. So the loss of life isn't that great a number. But they only have the one Crete class ship left and can't build any more. They'll be forced to recall it home to protect the core planets," Liz said to her.

"So three planets?" Kate questioned.

That had Liz looking at Rick since he was monitoring. "I haven't seen that fleet yet. Could be anywhere." They could look after they celebrate.

"Mama. Cookie?" Caleb asked softly since all the grownups seemed happy about something.

"Cookies for everyone!" Kate announced. She lifted him up, took him into the kitchen with her, and noticed that Kateryn was following her.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Since they were celebrating, Liz was with Kate in the kitchen making a massive dinner of the best each of them could make.

Caleb and Kateryn were on the floor in the cafeteria stacking blocks, trying to make who knew what, but at least they were happy. Rick and Frankie were on their second beer when Nassana entered the cafeteria.

"Did you come to celebrate with us?" Rick grinned at her.

"I am here to inform you that the fighter will require several weeks of maintenance. You took one shot too many to the ship's shields and they collapsed. The armor would likely have stopped the next one, however, there may have been damage. We will be replacing all of the shield emitters and doing tests on the power core. We anticipate that this will take close to four weeks. We are pleased that you won," Nassana stated and turned to leave them.

"Nass!" Kateryn was up and working on following her. Nassana stopped and picked her up when she reached her legs.

A pair of small arms wrapped around Nassana's neck. She was not used to children and did not know what to do next.

If Kate or Liz had been witnessing this they would know what to tell her to do next.

Frankie was up and walked over to them both. He stood in front of Nassana. "Tell her that you love her."

"I…" Nassana was not sure she loved anyone let alone a little girl who was wrapped around her.

"I wuv you." Kateryn had heard her dad tell her what to say and it came out easily.

Nassana watched Frankie nod. "I love you too?" Little arms held onto her even tighter. It still left her unsure what to do next.

Frankie moved in and extracted his daughter from the Android. "Say bye, little love. Nassana has work to do and we have to get you washed up for dinner."

"Bye, bye." Kateryn waved at her and watched Nassana leave.

"Let's get you clean. We have a celebration dinner." Frankie took her into the kitchen where there were hand sinks to get her hands clean.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Liz found getting her daughter back was harder than it looked. Kate was holding Caleb to take him home and get him ready for bed. But Kateryn had her arms wrapped around Kate's legs.

"You don't want to come home?" Liz got a shaking head. It hurt a little but she had an idea. "Would it be better if Caleb came home with us?" Maybe it wasn't her and more Caleb. A nodding head gave both Kate and Liz the answer they needed.

"I'll get his jammies and something to wear tomorrow." Kate handed over her son, extracted herself from Kateryn's arms, and headed for their room.

She was back just in time to see a naked Rick sitting on the bed waiting for her. She walked into her arms.

"No child all night?" Rick asked her and felt Kate shake her head. "I suppose you want to tie me to the bed now?"

Kate simultaneously squealed and sucked in a deep breath. "I'll…" Kate cleared her throat since she couldn't remember when she had been this excited. "I'll get the straps." She was going to have some fun now.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate had him tied to the bed. She'd checked each strap and stood at the foot of the bed. She started to simply take off her clothes until she saw his cock twitch as it got a bit bigger.

Now she was stripping really slowly and trying to hide parts of her until she crawled up his body and avoided his cock completely.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Rick was begging her to let him climax. He was also testing the straps and trying to move. "KATE! …PLEASE!"

"Not just yet, babe." Kate replied since she was loving this a lot. Being tied to the bed herself? Not so much. Having Rick tied to the bed was a big yes. Though the drug in her system was also screaming at her. Rick might not be climaxing yet but neither was she.

She was so hot and needed to climax so very badly. Listening to Rick beg her had her wetter than she had ever been lately. So she was up, placed his cock at her opening, and dropped herself onto him, plunging him deep inside her. It was just what Kate needed. She climaxed just as Rick climaxed harder and stronger than he ever had in his life. Both of them screamed.

A moment later Kate was grinding herself on him to reach her second orgasm.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate had just untied him from the bed. She was utterly happy and was so ready to do this again when suddenly she found herself being pinned to the bed as he plunged his cock deep inside her from behind. She whimpered and moaned. "YES! FUCK ME!" Thanks to her drug she could do this maybe for another couple of hours.

Kate heard him groan loudly which told her he had just climaxed inside her. However, instead of stopping he kept fucking her. "RICK! PLEASE DON'T STOP!"

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"You sure you don't want some company?" Frankie was standing next to her with the Gateway open onto a room that held a Colonel Slovus that both of them knew well.

"I'll be fine. I have my pad with a lot of information. They aren't going to learn anything about here or the fighter. His job is to make contact with the Alliance and find out if they're willing to talk now. I'm going to make sure that we'll only accept our original demands from last time. An Alliance of the outer planets. It's that or we can finish what we've started. No more interference from the Alliance.

"Maybe even reparations for all the murdered people on those three planets those three Alliance fleets did." Liz was secure enough with this colonel.

"Just keep the Gateway open so I can run to it and get away if necessary," Liz asked him and Nassana who was at the controls.

"We will be here for 6 hours but no longer. After that we have to shut down for 24 hours." Nassana warned her in case she had forgotten.

"Make this meeting lost no longer than 5 hours. Got it. Wish me luck." Liz turned to look at the Gateway only to have her husband spin her so he could kiss her.

"We'll all be right here waiting for your answer." Frankie had never thought this day would come. Then he watched his wife walk into a small side room that looked through the window into the room Colonel Slovus was sitting in. He was still in his uniform from the first war.


	25. Chapter 25

**Firefly**

_Chater 25_

_It is now 3 years later_

Everyone, which included nine of the Androids, was all lined up and the Gateway room was filled with everything that was going.

Everyone, save the kids and all of the Androids had seen where they were going to be living now. They had personally checked in on the contractor throughout the construction. It was too late to change anything even after the contractor had started.

He had purchased or preordered a lot of stuff so even the interior finishes were essentially made in concrete and couldn't be changed. All the adults were learning just how really big each home was going to be.

The contractor hadn't installed the security system. He in fact was done, gone, and had been paid his finally payment. The Androids had arrived, wired it all up, and driven each of the poles deep into the ground.

The Gateway opened up onto the courtyard of Rick and Kate's home and everyone picked up something and started walking.

Rick and Kate had all the clothes for both boys while Frankie and Liz had Rick and Kate's clothes. Behind them were all the Androids who were moving mostly food amongst other items.

Caleb easily followed Rick to his new room while Joseph followed his mother, albeit a little more slowly, to his room.

This trip was strictly a quick drop off and go back trip. The only exception was the Androids who put all the food away and went back.

Once everyone was back the Gateway was moved to Frankie and Liz's new home. Liz and Frankie picked up all the clothes for Kateryn and Rebecca to their rooms while Rick and Kate took Frankie and Liz's clothes.

Kateryn followed her dad while Rebecca followed her mother to her room. While the Androids took all the food and other things and put it all away.

Then everyone was back in the Gateway room and everyone got in their goodbyes for now.

One Android was working the controls and moved it to Rick and Kate's home.

Rick reminded everyone what was happening on their first day. "We unpack and bring our food for tonight out to the dining area on the island on our first night."

"We'll be there," Frankie confirmed.

Rick picked up Joseph and walked through. "Let's go, little man. You'll see Kateryn tonight." Kate took Caleb's hand and walked through followed by Liara who was going to be staying with them this first year.

The view was changed to Frankie and Liz's home and Frankie picked up Rebecca and walked through. "Caleb lives right on the other side. We're having dinner with them tonight." Liz took hold of Kateryn's hand and walked her through. Nassana was right behind her since she was going to be staying with them this first year.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Each child got to see his new finished room as his or her parents put away clothes. Then the kids were put to bed to take a much needed nap and the parents went to their room to put their clothes away. After that the parents went through their new home so they could get used to it.

Unbeknownst to the other they each ended up in the main courtyard in the very center.

"Can you believe it?" Rick asked Kate and put an arm around her.

Kate leaned into him willingly. "Never. I was a slave. Now I'm not. I'm married to the man I love with two beautiful boys and a big house. It's a dream that I fear I'm going to wake up from."

"Never going to happen. Wonder where Liara is?" Rick asked. "I know she knows which room is hers."

"Right here, Commander. I picked up one of the pads and checked the security room. We are clear for now. Likely the 3 years of construction scared most if not all of them away. We should remain that way for a while," Liara informed them.

"Not sorry you came?" Kate needed to make sure.

"No, the others suggested that I and Nassana go first. We have been looking forward to it. The others will check in every month over the years. No matter who is here," Liara replied.

"It's hot out so I'm going inside. The boys A/C is on. I'm going to the library to find something to read while the boys sleep." Kate left both of them.

"Are we ready?" Rick asked Liara.

"The Gateway should be open just inside the Security room." Liara walked next to him until they reached the room and walked though back into the Gateway room. Only Rick stopped just inside the room while Liara ran for the Medical Bay.

Rick waited patiently but that was a lie since he was anything but patient. He had a really big surprise and Liara had agreed to this. All they needed was to make sure they were as alone as they were ever going to be.

Liara eventually strode back into the room with two items, one in each hand. "Ready?" Rick queried and watched her hold up each item.

"Scan and open the Gateway. We will go through if everything is correct," Liara asked of who was manning the Gateway.

Rick and Liara watched and waited a moment. "Just them and the owner," Rick stated and Liara nodded. "I'll take them, you knock out the owner." Together they rushed through the Gateway and Rick headed for these two while Liara hurried over to the owner and injected him with a strong sedative which knocked him out instantly.

Rick saw fear but they didn't move. "Don't be afraid. My name is Rick. We've come to take you away from here. I want to take you to Kate."

"Katie? My Katie?" Johanna questioned in a quavering voice since she and her husband were certain they'd never see her again.

"Yes, please. You two need to come with me before someone shows up." Rick wasn't going to force them even if he kind of wanted to just to get them moving. The longer they stayed here the more dangerous it might get.

"We can't," Jim stated and saw Rick's mouth drop open.

"We're slaves." Johanna raised her hands to show her tattoos.

"Not if you come with me. Kate is no longer a slave and we can do the same for you. We have more than enough room for both of you. Please, we can do this," Rick pleaded with both of them.

Liara spoke up for the first time. "He speaks the truth. I removed her slavery tattoos. I can do the same for both of you."

"Please, we need to get out of here," Rick tried again. The second he saw movement he grabbed both of them and pulled then around them to start pushing.

The second they were through the Gateway the view ended. Jim and Johanna were now standing there in total shock and looking around.

"We stick with the plan. We just bring them back to remove their tattoos," Rick said. Liara nodded then stepped up to Jim and ran her device over him from head to toe.

"The male is clean of tracking devices," Liara said and moved over to Johanna to do the same. Johanna simply stood there and watched what she did. "The female is also clean of tracking devices," Liara stated and nodded her head.

Instantly the Gateway opened with a view of Kate sitting in the library reading from a pad after downloading something to read.

"Jim! It's Katie." Johanna could see her. She looked great and was even smiling as she looked at something in her hands while she sat in a chair.

"Can we see her?" Johanna pleaded.

"You're going to live with us. Come with me." Rick walked through.

Rick tried to get her attention. "Kate, love?"

"Hi, babe. What's up?" Then she saw the Gateway view behind him and what she saw there had her in a state of total shock. She couldn't move or speak. Her hands couldn't keep hold of her pad so it fell to her lap, hit her leg, and ended up on the floor.

Her eyes huge, Kate watched as both of them walked slowly toward her into the room.

Kate was still sitting. "…Mom, Dad?" She was sure she was never going to see either of them again.

"We finally found them." Rick helped her to stand.

Rick stood back and watched as all three of them were doing their best to hug the other and started crying.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"How?" Kate had felt them, been kissed, and had hugged each of them just to make sure they were real.

"This man suddenly just showed up and said he could take us to you," Johanna explained while still holding onto her daughter. "We still don't know how we got here."

"Babe?" Kate looked to find him and saw him and Liara standing next to each other.

"We found them just before the big move," Rick said.

What Kate wanted to do was kiss him forever for what he'd done. Instead she went over and hugged her parents. Right up until she saw something far too familiar. Kate grabbed Johanna's hand and held it up so she could see it clearly.

"We were forced to sell ourselves," Johanna said sadly. They'd sold their only daughter and it had been for nothing. They had trapped themselves into slavery.

Kate felt Jim grab one of her hands and held it up so all of them could see. "I'm not a slave any more," Kate told them. "Liara?" She'd seen her a moment ago and knew she was staying with them for a year.

"We will need to wait a month for the Gateway to open and take them to medical. They are clear of any detection devices," Liara said.

"Are you tagged?" Rick asked them both.

"Yes." Jim lowered his head. "Our owner will be able to find us and take us away." Jim was sure this was just a happy moment that wasn't going to last.

"He has to find you first." They weren't anywhere near where they used to be. Then Rick slumped. "We didn't even think to stop long enough for clothes." Rick let his head fall to his chest. He'd been so focused on finding and getting them that he didn't think.

"We'll think of something." Kate smiled and hugged her parents some more.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Jim and Johanna found themselves in an amazingly beautiful house as they were both escorted to a room they were told was theirs. "There's a sitting room across the bridge that's yours. You've seen the living room with a fireplace that's also yours. Your room here has a bed, closet, furniture, and your own bathroom," Rick pointed.

"Maybe some simple sweats that will be too big for now. Kate knows where the laundry room's located. We haven't actually used it yet. I'm going to go check on the boys. …I really am glad that we could find you." Rick retreated to give Kate some alone time with her parents.

"Boys?" Johanna questioned after Rick was gone.

That had Kate smiling wide. "Rick is my husband and we have two boys. Caleb is almost five while Joseph is about 2 and a half. They're both taking a nap at the moment." Kate beamed; her life had turned around a lot since she had been sold.

"Rick actually found me, picked me up off the floor, and took me with him. My owner hadn't tagged me so he had no way of getting me back. Rick tagged me until he found someone who could remove my tattoos. I fell in love with him and he asked me to marry him. We've been married for over 5 years, I think."

"Married." Johanna covered her mouth with both hands and laughed and cried at the same time. She just couldn't keep up with what was happening.

"We're having a big welcome to our new home dinner with Frankie and Liz and their daughters tonight. I'm going to go find what Rick had found for you to wear. Just drop your clothes outside of the door to the living room. There should be hot water and everything you will need in the bathroom." Kate couldn't stop herself from hugging each of them before leaving them.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

"Are you as lost as I am?" Jim questioned his wife.

"Even more so, I think. I still have no idea just where we are or even how we got here. After all this time I was sure we were never going to see her again. Then selling our only daughter gained us virtually nothing. She should be furious with us and yet she isn't. Does that about sum it up?" Johanna asked her husband.

Jim rubbed the tattoo on one of his hands. "Pretty much. You want the shower first?" Jim was willing to risk her using up all the hot water.

Johanna nodded. "Maybe it'll help me feel clean after all this."

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Kate found clothes outside the door. She dropped her sweats and picked up their clothes. She knocked on the door then retreated to the laundry room that was on this level, just on the opposite side of the building. Closer to the boys' room, actually.

The boys were just going to have to use the bunk beds now. They'd planned on giving bedroom number 4 to Liara. Now she was going to get bedroom number 2 since it was in the corner and they had needed the wall space without windows for the bunk beds.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Jim and Johanna were clean, wearing clean clothes, and were following Rick, Kate, and their two boys that they had just previously met out the French doors in a large dining room outside.

They were dead last as they had to slow way down to see the great room that had 30 foot ceilings, then into the kitchen that had not one but two islands.

Once outside they saw a lot of sand and while the sun was down, it was still hot out. In fact most of the rooms in the house were rather warm.

There was a patio that led to a bridge across a body of water to an island that had this large pergola on one end.

Once they got there they were introduced to Frankie, Liz, Kateryn, and Rebecca.

"Your parents?" Liz was about as surprised as Kate had been and hugged both of them.

"This has you written all over it," Frankie whispered to Rick as they both watched Jim and Johanna getting the once over from the girls, deciding if they liked them or not.

"Actually it was Nassana here that found them. They're both slaves," Rick told him in case he hadn't spotted their tattoos on the back of their hands.

"Nice work, Nassana!" Frankie congratulated her for her hard work. "Can you remove their tattoos like you did for Kate?" Frankie inquired.

"Liara is very talented and she has experience removing Kate's. She should manage, once the Gateway is open again in a month," Nassana said.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Jim and Johanna were eating what had been cooked on the outdoor cooking area for them and everyone else. They watched Kate cut up what she needed to for Joseph to make it easier on him.

"We heard the outer planets had gained independence from the Alliance. We had high hopes that our owner would free us but we both knew it was too late. Our tattoos were never going to come off," Jim said as they all ate.

"It took a year of talking during a cease fire. However, the Alliance tried something and it cost them. They sent a small fleet of 19 ships to Regina to try and change how things were going to go. They thought that if they blockaded the planet it would give them leverage. Instead of having just three core planets having one third of the planet in the dark they gained a fourth and lost their last Crete class. They were warned that if they didn't back off and talk they would have a fifth and no spaceports on any of their planets," Liz said.

The Alliance had made a mistake. They'd sent too many ships which weakened their core planets. That allowed Frankie to jump in and shoot holes in their last Crete class ship and take a few more with it when it exploded. That had helped clear the way to destroy their space ports.

"Their core planets aren't going to be the same for a few decades if not longer." Liz was happy that it had finally all worked out.

"To Victory!" Frankie raised his glass and got Rick, Liz, and even the kids to raise their glass. The kids might not understand but their parents were happy.

"You're not raising your glass, Katie?" Johanna asked her even if Jim and Johanna didn't raise theirs. Mostly because they didn't understand.

"Too many people died to get it." Kate was still upset about that.

( **][** )( **][** )( ~ **][** ~ )( **][** )( **][** )

Supposedly everyone was in their room after dinner and putting clean boys in their new beds in their new room.

Kate stepped out of the bathroom naked and saw her husband naked and sitting on the bed. "I suppose you want to tie me to the bed again," Rick questioned her.

"Not tonight." Kate walked up to him and felt his arms go around her while she pressed his head to her chest. "I love you so very much. Thank you for finding my parents." Kate kissed his head.

"Liara can remove their tattoos," Rick told her.

"I know. Now we just need to find your mother." What they didn't have was enough bedrooms but they would think of something.

Rick let go of her. Kate pulled his head away from her chest. "What?"

"I did find her," Rick said though his voice was filled with sadness.

"That's great! …Isn't it?" Kate searched his face.

"You remember those three planets that the Alliance killed when they fought back for what we were doing to them? They killed everyone." Rick couldn't look up at her. It still hurt too much.

"Oh, no! Babe, please say she wasn't." He had to tell her that she wasn't on one of those planets.

"I found evidence that she and the group she was with had gone there. They never left. We stand no chance of ever finding her body, but she was there. The Alliance killed her. Liz destroyed the cafeteria that day. Had I known at the time I would have helped her. We might never have been able to use that room again."

"OH DEAR GOD!" Kate pulled his head back into her chest and felt like her recently soaring heart had just been crushed. She had wanted them to make love to each other tonight in their brand new bed.

Now she was making love to him with his dead mother hanging over both of them. "I'm so sorry, babe. So very sorry." Her parents were alive and here with them yet his mother was dead. It so wasn't fair.

She still hated all the killing. She just hated more that his mother was one of them.

"We can celebrate her life tomorrow. Tell the boys all about the grandmother they're never going to meet. She's a part of our family, too," Kate said.

Now she understood why Rick had been moping around. She just couldn't get him to talk about why.

"I really was lucky that day I found you lying on the floor crying. You saved my life." He would be long since dead without her.

"You saved _my_ life. Gave me back _my_ life." She was the one that was saved that day. Her owner would have eventually killed her if not for Rick.

"We could ask Liara to untie my tubes again." Kate smiled since she had an idea if things worked out.

"We're going to need a bigger house," Rick said and smiled at her.

"I want a girl this time. We can name her after your mother. Give her life, her life, all over again." Kate felt him free his head from her chest and look up at her.

"Martha?" Rick wasn't so sure about this idea.

"Little Martha Rodgers. It's perfect." Kate loved the idea. One way or another she was going to be a part of this family. They would find the room somehow.

Rick knew he would cry and cry for a long time once it finally hit him that his mother was gone.


End file.
